And more "toxic" news.....

Nationwide has revealed it invested £1.6bn in securities backed by assets in the so-called PIIGS economies of Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, although 99% of them were rated AAA or AA and it had seen little evidence of any deterioration in their asset quality. It also owned £1.2bn of medium-term notes issued by financial institutions in those countries, including £692m in lending to Spanish banks. CEO, Graham Beale, said the society is following a new BBA code of practice in disclosing relevant facts.