Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008

Infobox UK Legislation
short_title=Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008
parliament=Parliament of the United Kingdom
long_title=^{An Act to make provision to enable the Treasury in certain circumstances to make an order relating to the transfer of securities issued by, or of property, rights or liabilities belonging to, an authorised deposit-taker; to make further provision in relation to building societies; and for connected purposes.}
statute_book_chapter=2008 c. 2
introduced_by=Alistair Darling (Chancellor of the Exchequer)
territorial_extent=England and Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
royal_assent=21 February 2008
commencement=21 February 2008
repeal_date=
amendments=
related_legislation=
repealing_legislation=
status=Current
original_text=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080002_en_1
activeTextDocId=3450001
legislation_history=http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2007-08/bankingspecialprovisions.html|

The Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008 (2008 c. 2) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was introduced in February 2008 in order to enable the UK government to nationalise high-street banks under emergency circumstances by secondary legislation. The Act was introduced in order to nationalise the failing bank Northern Rock after the bank was supported by Bank of England credit and a private-sector solution was deemed "not to provide sufficient value for the taxpayer" by the UK government.

Opposition to the Act by the Conservatives was based on: the Bill providing an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act, the large liabilities to the taxpayer and the alleged lack of independence from the government. The Bill was also sufficiently widely drawn to allow the nationalisation of any financial institution, leading to the concern that other banks may be in financial difficulty. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/20/nrock120.xml Alistair Darling accused of Northern Rock Freedom of Information cover-up] "The Daily Telegraph" 20 February 2008. Retrieved: 21 February 2008.]

After the nationalisation of Northern Rock, the Act allowed for the nationalisation of the mortgage and personal loan book of Bradford & Bingley on 29 September 2008.cite news|url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4842950.ece|title=Taxpayers must risk billions for Bradford & Bingley|last=Webster|first=Philip|coauthors=Hosking, Patrick; Reid, Tim|date=29 September 2008|work=The Times|publisher=Times Newspapers Ltd|accessdate=2008-10-09]

On 8 October 2008 the Treasury announced that an order under the Act was being used to transfer all retail deposits with Heritable Bank, a UK-based banking subsidiary of the failing Icelandic bank Landsbanki, and Kaupthing Edge to ING Direct.cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/moves-to-protect-uk-customers-as-bank-shuts-955089.html|title=Moves to protect UK customers as bank shuts|date=8 October 2008|work=The Independent|publisher=Independent News & Media|accessdate=2008-10-09]

List of banks acquired/transfered under the Act

References

External links

* [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/ukpga_20080002_en_1 Text of the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008] , as originally enacted and published by the Office of Public Sector Information
* [http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2007-08/bankingspecialprovisions.html History of the passage of the bill through parliament]