La crainte d’une panique bancaire

Infographie : François Descheemaekere

The fear of a run on banks

[Deutsche Welle]

A bank manages its customers' money and lends it out. But if customers all try to take their money out at the same time, there's a problem - no bank has that much cash. On September 14, 2007 the employees of the British bank Northern Rock unexpectedly had a lot to do: before the doors, long queues of savers had formed who had only one thing in mind - they wanted their money back. The following Monday even more customers came; the counter hours had to be extended. The employees paid out about two billion pounds to their customers, then the coffers were empty. The bank faced the end. Even a guarantee statement from the government in London could not reassure Northern Rock customers. They no longer wanted to entrust their money to a bank that had liquidity problems.
As a result, the financial institution was nationalized, and the securities' department responsible for the crash was wound down. It was only four years later that a buyer could be found for the failed bank.
Lire : dw.de