Not so solid rock

It may well be that the company is financially solvent, as we are assured. Depositors may well be guaranteed not to lose out, at least up to a certain level of maximum savings.

But would you open a new deposit account with the Northern Rock? That being so, how long can the company keep trading?

And The Herald is not exactly reassuring in reporting this:

Northern Rock chief executive Adam Applegarth, who earned £1.35m in salary and bonuses last year, said his bank had yet to draw on the emergency cash, which he called "a backstop in case we need to use it".
Mr Applegarth said the bank's underlying businesses were solid but it was facing short-term difficulties borrowing. How short-term? "Looking forward," he said, "I can't see when the global liquidity freeze is going to end. We simply don't know."