Britain’s bad bank confirms taxpayer bailout loan repaid in full

The so-called bad bank set up to manage the debts of failed banks Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley has repaid the last of the £48.7 billion taxpayer loan made in the financial crisis.

UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) confirmed the final repayment of the bailout cash was made following the sale of two Northern Rock Asset Management (NRAM) portfolios after its March 31 year-end.

Ian Hares, chief executive of UKAR, said: “I am delighted that, in under 10 years, we have been able to repay in full the Government loan of £48.7 billion.

“Looking forward, we are focused on the disposal of the remaining Government investments in NRAM and B&B whilst ensuring that customers are appropriately protected.”

It expects to offload the remaining nationalised assets in 2020.

It still manages £5.5 billion of loans and accounts for 35,000 customers.

But the number of customers has reduced from 96,000 over the year to March 31.

Including amounts owed, UKAR’s balance sheet now stands at £11.4 billion, down by £8.4 billion over the year and by more than £100 billion since 2010.

Its results showed UKAR also put by another £64 million for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling claims ahead of the August deadline.

This, combined with the reduced balance sheet, saw full-year statutory pre-tax profits drop 42% to £340.3 million.

The Government still holds a 62.4% stake in Royal Bank of Scotland following its mammoth £45 billion bailout in the financial crisis.

While the Government hopes to return RBS to private hands by 2024, it is still on course to make a hefty loss on its stake in the lending giant.

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