Legacy of crisis will be fewer banks in High Street

The emergence today of a £1.26bn offer from Spanish banking giant Santander for high street rival Alliance & Leicester is the latest significant development in the troubled sector.
The deal seems to make sense for all parties - certainly for A&L and its shareholders who must have felt vulnerable in the current climate. A&L is far from the car wreck that Bradford & Bingley has proved to be over recent weeks, but even so its shareholders were probably watching events there unfold from behind the sofa.

So the emergence of a Spanish knight in shining armour is probably a welcome sight for them. Indeed the only losers look likely to be the workers at A&L and Abbey - Santander's existing UK business - who will fear for their futures as the inevitable cost cutting gets underway to avoid duplication between the two businesses.
It's surely a taste of things to come. Our banking sector has probably been long overdue a shake-up and the current crisis looks like making sure that happens. What we will be left with is a smaller number of lenders in the high street but, hopefully, lenders who behave more prudently and responsibly.
Today's news inevitably also evokes thoughts of what might have been for Northern Rock, had the Lloyds TSB takeover gone ahead last year. A&L, B&B and the Rock had all been sitting ducks for a possible takeover by the likes of Lloyds TSB or Santander before events and individuals conspired against the Rock deal.
Northern Rock may one day be back on the table for potential suitors, but that day is surely a long way off yet.

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