UK Angry former investors in Northern Rock yesterday accused the government of usurping the value of the nationalised mortgage lender, leaving them holding worthless shares while the Treasury sought to reap a hefty profit, writes Megan Murphy .
SRM Global and RAB Capital, two hedge funds that held a combined stake of about 20 per cent of the bank, have banded together with about 150,000 private investors to challenge the legislation used to take Northern Rock into public ownership last February. They claim the government has unfairly rigged the way the bank will be valued to avoid paying compensation, in violation of human rights law. "This legislation does not provide for a compensation scheme,'' Lord Pannick QC, SRM's lawyer, told the High Court. "Instead, it provides for a no-compensation scheme.''
