West Bromwich building society hits back at rumours
In a worrying development in the UK financial sector the West Bromwich building society was today forced to deny reports the company is in financial trouble. While the society confirmed it was in talks with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) regarding ongoing stress tests there was a strong denial of any particular problems with the company's balance sheet.
There have been reports in this weekend's press that the Yorkshire and Coventry building societies had been approached by the FSA about a potential rescue package for the West Bromwich building society. As we covered on one of our earlier post, there are growing problems in the UK buy to let market and financial institutions such as West Bromwich building society have been singled out because of their own exposure to this area.
The West Bromwich is the seventh largest building society in the UK with over £200 million in sub-prime mortgage securities currently held on the balance. These are particular investments which are concerning FSA and it is not just the West Bromwich which has caught the attention of the regulator. The problem for the UK financial sector is the fact that rumours can seriously impact on consumer confidence and ultimately lead to further problems. We await official comment from the Financial Services Authority to finally put these rumours to bed.
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