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Northern Rock public ownership transition complete

22/02/2008

Northern Rock has moved into public ownership after the relevant legislation cleared its final hurdle in the House of Lords last night.

Peers removed their objections to the banking (special provisions bill) after their amendments were rejected by the government in the Commons.

The parliamentary bill subsequently gained royal assent shortly after 23:00 GMT on Thursday.

The stricken bank has now become one of the first major institutions to be nationalised since the 1970s after shares were transferred to the Treasury.

In the upper house last night, peers had sent the bill back to the Commons after requesting that the bank be subject to an independent audit and have its exemption to freedom of information laws removed, as well as asking for safeguards about a nationalised Northern Rock's impact on the banking sector.

But Yvette Cooper, Treasury chief secretary, rejected the amendments, paving the way for the bill to become law.

It means that, despite Conservative party opposition, the legislation was passed in just three days.