Northern Rock Boss Quits as Fall Continues

The CEO of collapsing British bank Northern Rock quit this morning without comment, reports the Financial Times. Adam Applegarth resigned last month but had pledged to stay on as CEO until the end of January to guide the struggling company through its upcoming sale. But investors are troubled by the slow speed of the transaction, with Applegarth taking the blame.

Virgin Group remains the leading bidder for Northern Rock, which also announced yet another writedown today, this time a loss of more than $570 million. Northern Rock is now hoping to sell by the end of February. Gordon Brown again yesterday faced calls to nationalize the failing bank, with one pol saying Virgin CEO Richard Branson was not a "fit and proper person" to run a bank. (More Northern Rock stories.)