Peston’s Hat-trick - Bradford and Bingley is Nationalised

Once again BBC Business Editor has broken price-sensitive news, announcing about 5 minutes ago that Bradford & Bingley is to be nationalised…

First it was Northern Rock, then it was Lloyds HBOS. Now Robert Peston’s insider contacts have again allowed him to break news about a quoted company well before the company itself is able to publish price-sensitive information via the Stock Exchange. Peston’s blog is certainly becoming the place to go for first news of the big stories!

I wonder whether the Stock Exchange will think that it is worth investigating the source of Peston’s announcements. There is a common theme - they all involve highly confidential information relating to the financial problems experienced by the UK banking sector; information that will be privy to a relatively small group of people involved in the regulation of the sector.

What must the Board of B&B be thinking just a few miles away from here?