November 16, 2007 (LPAC)--Five resignations were announced today by Northern Rock, the failed British mega-mortgage lender, now on financial life-support from the Bank of England. This follows the departure in October of Matt Ridley, Northern Rock's chairman.

Today the Chief Executive of the bank, Adam Applegarth, resigned; and four non-executive directors of the bank board will leave--Sir Derek Wanless, Nichola Pease, Adam Fenwick and Rosemary Radcliffe. Over the summer, Northern Rock, the largest single player in the recent years of the British home-mortgage bubble, crashed, as particulars of its non-performing loan base became known. There were runs on its bank branches all across Britain. Only heavy cash infusions from the Bank of England, and certain international banks, have kept up the pretense of a future for Northern Rock.

One potential buyer is "Rebel Billionaire" Richard Branson's Virgin Group, which today released some particulars of its offer. An alternative offer for Northern Rock comes from Olivant, the fund created by a former CEO of Abey National Bank. The talk is for the departing Chief Executive Applegarth is to stay on until something is arranged by late January, 2008--a tricky contingency, given that the financial system itself is unravelling.