LEX Bradford & Bingley has the classic balance sheet of a bank in big trouble. On the left side there is not much right, and on the right side there is not much left.
On the assets side, arrears and impairments mount on its big portfolio of buy-to-let and “self-cert” mortgages. The outlook is as grim for liabilities. Triple A covered bonds used to be a mainstay of funding, lapped up by institutions; B&B now seems to print them to benefit central banks, to use as collateral for cash. The bank strengthened equity by issuing new shares in July, but its market capitalisation is now less than the money it raised. Investors are discounting that it would have gone bust anyway.
