Resolution launched a bid last night to gatecrash the financial restructuring package announced this month by Bradford & Bingley.
The deal would see it take control of the mortgage lender.
The financial services company is representing a group of B&B investors that would in effect become its biggest shareholder, with the mortgage bank subsequently slated to become a vehicle for consolidating the smaller players in the banking sector.
Resolution said "leading investors" in B&B had invited it to put forward plans for a £400m investment in the mortgage bank.
The money would come from the four shareholders with which Resolution has so far held discussions: Insight, Legal & General, Prudential and Standard Life. Adding in B&B shares controlled by Clive Cowdery, Resolution's chief executive, the group owns around 20 per cent of the mortgage lender, giving it a strong foothold from which to build support.
The idea is that after winning control of B&B, Resolution would use the bank as a vehicle through which a restructuring of smaller banks and other lenders could take place over the next two years.
The Independent