How the Northern Rock crisis unfolded
July 25th, 2007- Northern Rock issues an upbeat set of trading results, saying the outlook for business appears "very positive".
August 9th -A global credit crunch hits as French bank BNP Paribas suspends three of its investment funds with exposure to the troubled US subprime market.
September 4th -The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, at which British banks lend money to each other, reaches its highest level in almost nine years.
September 12th- Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, says it is willing to offer emergency loans to any bank that runs into short-term funding difficulties due to the ongoing credit crisis.
September 13th- News breaks that Northern Rock has requested and received emergency funding from the Bank of England in its capacity as the lender of last resort. Irish savers hold around €2.3 billion with Northern Rock with an average of more than €90,000 held in about 26,000 accounts.
September 14th- Queues of worried depositors begin to form outside Northern Rock branches, including the bank's office on Harcourt Street in Dublin.
Northern Rock says "extreme conditions" in the financial markets forced it to turn to the Bank of England for emergency funding.
September 17th- British chancellor Alistair Darling intervenes to ease panic among Northern Rock's depositors, saying the exchequer will guarantee all deposits held by the bank, including those held by Irish customers.
September 18th -Darling's move has the desired effect as queues gradually disappear outside branches.
October 9th- The British treasury agrees to protect all new savings deposited at Northern Rock.
October 12th- A consortium led by Richard Branson's Virgin Group proposes to rescue Northern Rock in a deal that would lead to the bank being rebranded Virgin Money.
November 16th- Northern Rock announces the resignation of chief executive Adam Applegarth.
December 7th- Olivant, a private equity firm led by former Abbey National boss Luqman Arnold puts together a proposal to rescue Northern Rock.
December 21st -Northern Rock agrees to hold an emergency meeting to discuss a sale on January 15th.
January 19th, 2008- British prime minister Gordon Brown says talks are taking place to secure a private sale of Northern Rock but does not rule out the possibility of nationalising the bank.
February 4th- Branson's Virgin Group and Northern Rock's board make rescue proposals for the bank by the deadline for offers for Northern Rock.
Olivant pulls out because the British government wanted its £25 billion sterling of direct loans to Northern Rock repaid within three years.
February 12th- The Virgin-led consortium is told it is the frontrunner to take control.
February 15th -Northern Rock's board pledges to inject more cash as part of its offer.
February 17th- Darling says neither the Virgin-led consortium's proposal or the offer from Northern Rock's management for the bank offer enough value to the taxpayer.
February 18th- Shares in Northern Rock are suspended. Legislation is passed nationalising the bank.
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