MSN Money UK – Northern Rock was the darling of the UK mortgage sector, but fuelled its rapid growth by borrowing in money markets and selling on its mortgage debts rather than customer deposits.

The eruption of the credit crunch in August 2007 as banks clamped down on risks shattered its business model and forced it to seek emergency aid from the Bank of England.

Full coverage of Northern Rock

January 2007 - Northern Rock reports a 16.5% increase in annual profits to £587.7 million for 2006, beating City forecasts.

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MSN Money UK – Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC was examined at least eight times in 16 years by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulators, who often came armed with suspicions, the Wall Street Journal said.

SEC officials followed up on emails from a New York hedge fund that described Bernard Madoff’s business practices as "highly unusual," the paper said.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the industry-run watchdog for brokerage firms, reported in 2007 that parts of the firm appeared to have no customers, according to the paper.

Madoff was interviewed at least twice by the SEC, the paper said, adding that regulators never came close to uncovering the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme that investigators now believe began in the 1970s.

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Tags: 1970s, bernard madoff, brokerage firms, business practices, eight times, financial industry regulatory authority, investigators, investment-securities, money uk, regulators, sec officials, securities-and-exchange, securities-and-exchange-commission, suspicions, wall street, wall-street-journal, watchdog