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| Dunfermline boss attacks Treasury | Dunfermline boss attacks Treasury |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| The chair of the collapsed Dunfermline Building Society has attacked the UK Government, accusing the Treasury of "sacrificing" the business. | The chair of the collapsed Dunfermline Building Society has attacked the UK Government, accusing the Treasury of "sacrificing" the business. |
| Jim Faulds also hit out at "faceless mandarins" who he said had refused to talk to the Dunfermline to help secure its future. | Jim Faulds also hit out at "faceless mandarins" who he said had refused to talk to the Dunfermline to help secure its future. |
| Scotland's largest building society incurred losses last year of £26m. | Scotland's largest building society incurred losses last year of £26m. |
| The Treasury ruled out a UK Government bailout of up to £100m after regulators said the move was not viable. | The Treasury ruled out a UK Government bailout of up to £100m after regulators said the move was not viable. |
| The tri-partite regulators - the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the UK government - have forced the sale of the Dunfermline, after it emerged a multi-million pound loss was expected and further problems were likely to emerge. | The tri-partite regulators - the Bank of England, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the UK government - have forced the sale of the Dunfermline, after it emerged a multi-million pound loss was expected and further problems were likely to emerge. |
| You can tell how angry and frustrated I am about this needless waste of a first-class Scottish institution Jim FauldsChairman, Dunfermline Building Society | |
| Defending the decision, Chancellor Alistair Darling said a bail-out was not realistic and insisted savers' money would be protected. | |
| Speaking on BBC Scotland's Politics Show, Mr Faulds dismissed claims the Dunfermline had debt links to the US sub-prime mortgage market, and added that the building society had no bad debts in relation to the collapsed Icelandic banking system. | Speaking on BBC Scotland's Politics Show, Mr Faulds dismissed claims the Dunfermline had debt links to the US sub-prime mortgage market, and added that the building society had no bad debts in relation to the collapsed Icelandic banking system. |
| Asked if the Treasury was saving or sacrificing the Dunfermline, Mr Faulds replied: "Sacrificing." | Asked if the Treasury was saving or sacrificing the Dunfermline, Mr Faulds replied: "Sacrificing." |
| He welcomed Mr Darling's assurance that members' money would be safe, but added: "My worry now is the staff. There are people, families, 550 employees sitting at home worried sick about their jobs." | |
| Mr Faulds went on: "We have been working night and day, tirelessly for the last six months, to get some common sense into this decision and we have failed - not because we don't have common sense but because we cannot get the mandarins, the faceless mandarins in London who will not speak to us, to sit round the table and see we have a sustainable future." | Mr Faulds went on: "We have been working night and day, tirelessly for the last six months, to get some common sense into this decision and we have failed - not because we don't have common sense but because we cannot get the mandarins, the faceless mandarins in London who will not speak to us, to sit round the table and see we have a sustainable future." |
| The government hopes to be able to announce a buyer for the Dunfermline by Monday. | The government hopes to be able to announce a buyer for the Dunfermline by Monday. |
| 'Repayment concern' | |
| There are currently four potential bidders - two banks and two building societies. | There are currently four potential bidders - two banks and two building societies. |
| Mr Faulds said that, if left alone, the Dunfermline would have been able to report a small operating profit for 2008, while putting some money aside to resolve issues with its troubled commercial loan book, in the coming years. | |
| "It would be excellent news for the taxpayer, excellent news for the staff excellent news for the members and you can tell how angry and frustrated I am about this needless waste of a first-class Scottish institution," he said. | |
| Mr Darling said the Dunfermline Building Society needed between £60m and £100m to keep it going. | |
| He went on: "When you bear in mind the society has never made more than about, you know, £5m or £6m in the recent past, it couldn't seven service that sort of loan - let alone repay it. | |
| "Now we've tried, we've talked to the regulator for weeks about this and I would like to have been able to do something. But we couldn't be in a position where we put money into it, knowing they couldn't even service it or repay it back." |