Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Acts of Parliament of predecessor states to the United Kingdom
Acts of English Parliament to 1601 Acts of English Parliament to 1641 Ordinances and Acts (War & Interregnum) to 1660 Acts of English Parliament to 1699 Acts of English Parliament to 1706 Acts of Parliament of Scotland Acts of Irish Parliament to 1700 Acts of Irish Parliament to 1800
Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom
1707–1719 \| 1720–1739 \| 1740–1759 1760–1779 \| 1780–1800 \| 1801–1819 1820–1839 \| 1840–1859 \| 1860–1879 1880–1899 \| 1900–1919 \| 1920–1939 1940–1959 \| 1960–1979 \| 1980–1999 2000–Present
Acts of the Scottish Parliament
Acts of the Northern Ireland Parliament
Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Measures of the National Assembly for Wales
Orders in Council for Northern Ireland
United Kingdom Statutory Instruments

The Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008 (2008 c. 2) is an Act of the United Kingdom that was introduced in order to enable the UK government to nationalise high-street banks under emergency circumstances by secondary legislation. The Act was introduced in order to nationalise the failing bank Northern Rock after the bank was supported by Bank of England credit and a private-sector solution was deemed "not to provide sufficient value for the taxpayer" by the UK government.

Opposition to the Act by the Conservatives was based on the Bill providing an exemption to the Freedom of Information Act and the alleged lack of independence from the government. The Bill was also sufficiently widely drawn to allow the nationalisation of any financial institution, leading to the concern that other banks may be in financial difficulty.^[1]