There were some rumblings about the stability of West Bromwich Building Society a few weeks ago, and despite a period of no news (although there was some denial of problems by the company themselves), it looks like they may well be in trouble, with the BBC’s Robert Peston suggesting they are to be bailed out in the very near future.
The West Brom, which is the country’s 8th largest building society, is to be “rescued within the next few days”, according to Peston, but savers should not need to worry about their money, as it will be protected by the Government. That probably won’t stop a few anxious customers from withdrawing their cash and stashing it under the mattress though.
[the] building society may be broken up, with its savers transferred to another building society and its assets taken over by the Bank of England under the so-called Special Resolution Regime… it is clear that savers at West Brom will not lose a penny – and that it should be business-as-usual for the society’s mortgage borrowers.
We’ll post more information as it becomes available.
You can bet that if a handful of people withdraw it will start a panic and there will be queues.