Tucker Had Told U.K. Bank Heads System May Crash, Telegraph Says

Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker told U.K. bank executives last year that the banking system could collapse by that Christmas, the Sunday Telegraph said, citing people familiar with the situation.

Tucker made the comments at an October meeting with the chief executives of Britain’s largest banks, the newspaper said, citing three people present at the meeting that it didn’t identify.

Officials at the central bank were concerned a collapse of the euro area would spark a financial crisis even greater than the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008, the newspaper said.

A Bank of England spokeswoman declined to comment.

-- Editor: Keith Campbell

To contact the reporter on this story: Svenja O’Donnell in London at sodonnell@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net