September 16, 2007 (LPAC)--The lines stretching outside Britain's Northern Rock bank Monday morning will again be reminiscent of Great Depression bank runs. Figures vary, but the Financial Times reported that depositors withdrew about 4% of the bank's purported deposit base on Sept. 14. The Sunday Times predicts that shortly it will see 12 billion pounds—about half its deposits—flee out the door.

In the first half of this year, Northern Wreck provided about 20% of Britain's mortgages. But, "In light of the continuing extreme global liquidity crisis, which is impacting markets around the world, we have had to slow down our lending activities, and will continue to do so until markets normalize," Northern Rock said on its website. No Rock's share price closed down more than 31% Friday.

One plan for salvaging something from the bank is to have Northern Rock prepare for a sell-off, said the Sunday Telegraph. But AFP quotes the Mail, noting that the likes of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland, and the French bank Credit Agricole would wait, "until their rival is on the point of collapse so they can pick it up for a song." However, as the London Times noted last Friday, RBOS is said not to be interested, HSBC is under pressure to concentrate on emerging markets, Barclays and RBS are battling for ABN, and Lloyds TSB is probably not strong enough, so who the white knight scavengers might be, if they exist, is not clear.