Press Release: State aid: Commission approves liquidation of Bradford & Bingley

The European Commission has approved under EU state aid rules UK Government measures granted for the liquidation of Bradford & Bingley. Following Bradford & Bingley's split-up and nationalisation of the part containing the impaired assets in 2008, the UK authorities notified a liquidation plan for the bank. The Commission has authorised the measures, because they are appropriate and necessary for an orderly winding down of the bank while taking into account the necessity to preserve the confidence of creditors in the financial system and remedy a serious disturbance of the UK economy. The Commission therefore concluded that the plan is compatible with Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), that allows aid to remedy a serious disturbance in a Member State's economy.