Quote Originally Posted by Muddy Retriever View Post
So why did Northen Rock (and others) collapse?
They invested in non viable mortgages and financial products - property was over-valued, mortgages of too high a % of the property value were given to people who never had a hope of paying them back, and these doomed mortgages were converted into a "fool proof" investment. Too much of Northern Rock's business was based on mortgages.