The British Bankers Association and some of the UK’s biggest banks are to hold talks with the Treasury, the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England about whether the government needs to open a full-blown inquiry into the Northern Rock crisis. Financial Times
Part of the discussion, to take place at a BBA-hosted summit on the global credit squeeze, will centre on whether there needs to be a full investigation into what caused the first run on a British bank in 140 years. The summit will also consider the speed of the regulators’ response to the crisis after it broke in August.
Some senior bankers are likely to question whether the Bank of England should have taken a more interventionist approach and will point to the European Central Bank, which has been able covertly to help European banks by providing liquidity.