Northern Rock investors' compensation claim just doesn't stand up | Nils Pratley

Though it might be deserved, the chance of campaigners securing reparation through suasion is extremely low

One sympathises, of course, with the former shareholders in Northern Rock who are still campaigning for compensation a decade after the bank's nationalisation. They are not faceless City institutions. Many are small shareholders who had invested substantial sums, presumably in the belief the Rock was a solid north-east institution run by a competent board, and lost the lot.

The problem with the compensation idea, however, is that it doesn't stand up. Yes, it is probably true that the Rock was not insolvent, just suffering an extreme liquidity crisis. After all, the Treasury is set to make a clear profit from the run-off of the mortgage book. But those profits are not evidence of unfair confiscation. Taxpayers assumed a risk the Rock was unable to bear because it had been running a risky and reckless funding model that couldn't withstand the crisis. For a bank, lack of liquidity can be a life-threatening event.

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