Why are the Big Banks still letting us down?
The global banking crisis first began to truly hit home in the UK in 2007, as thousands of Northern Rock customers queued for hours to withdraw their savings. The bank had borrowed money to fund mortgages for its customers, then sold off the mortgages in the international markets. Eventually demand for secured mortgages inevitably fell, leaving Northern Rock with a shortage in capital, meaning that it needed to borrow money from the British government in order to balance the books. As the recession deepened into 2008 consumer confidence in banks went sour, as it was revealed that risk-buying was a large factor contributing to the scale of the credit crunch.
