Banco inglés se nacionaliza

Hace algún tiempo en este blog advertí que habría quiebras de bancos. He aquí la primera quiebra y nacionalización de un banco inglés. Y habrá más. Varios de los bancos más grandes (Citigroup, JP Morgan entre otros) no tienen el capital suficiente para operar. Y algo de lo que nadie en México (cuando menos las cabecitas parlanchinas pro-gobierno) ha dicho es cuál es la situación de los bancos aquí. El 90% de ellos extranjeros y sin capital operativo.

The aftermath of the first run on a British bank for 150 years ended yesterday as Chancellor Alistair Darling announced that the beleaguered Northern Rock was to be nationalised.

Both the Chancellor and Gordon Brown had been desperate to avoid taking the crisis-hit mortgage lender into state control and had spent five frantic months trying to find a private buyer for the bank.

Mr Darling, who has endured a torrid start to his stewardship of the Treasury, finally gave up the search and confirmed the dramatic retreat in a hastily announced press conference. The Chancellor stressed that nationalisation was only a temporary step and said he intended to return the bank to the private sector once market conditions improve.

But public ownership represents a massive gamble for ministers, who are now responsible for mortgages worth £100bn and for the livelihoods of thousands of Northern Rock staff, mainly in Labour's heartlands in the north-east of England.