Oct 28 (Reuters) - European Union antitrust regulators approved on Wednesday a British plan to break up state-owned mortgage bank Northern Rock, allowing the UK government eventually to sell parts of the lender.
Following are key dates in the bank's chequered recent history:
Aug. 9, 2007 - Pinpointed by regulators and the bank itself as the date "the world changed" for Northern Rock. The European Central Bank pumps a record 94.8 billion euros into Europe's money markets after BNP Paribas freezes withdrawals on funds hit by U.S. subprime market crisis.
Sept. 14 - Northern Rock says the Bank of England has stepped in to provide support, causing the bank's shares to crash over 30 percent.
Sept. 15 - Customers besiege the bank to withdraw money, ignoring official reassurance. Two days later the government steps in to guarantee deposits in a bid to stop the run.
Sept. 25 - Under pressure from the Treasury and regulators, Northern Rock cancels its interim dividend and confirms it is in "preliminary discussions with selected parties".
Oct. 9 - Northern Rock gets another lifeline as the government offers to guarantee new retail deposits.
Oct. 10 - Shares jump over 40 percent after SRM Global, a hedge fund run by former UBS trader Jon Wood, takes a stake of over 4 percent.
Oct. 19 - Bryan Sanderson replaces Matt Ridley as chairman.
Jan. 11, 2008 - Northern Rock sells a 2.2 billion pound portfolio of mortgages to U.S. bank J.P. Morgan to help repay loans from the Bank of England. Jan. 21 - Government announces plan to convert about 25 billion pounds loaned to Northern Rock into bonds to smooth the way for a private sector takeover.
Feb. 17 - Government rejects offers, deciding to take Northern Rock into temporary public ownership.
Feb. 21 - Britain passes legislation allowing the government to nationalise Northern Rock.
July 4 - The bank says it will not pay a dividend on 400 million pounds ($582 million) of preference shares owned by the Treasury.
Feb. 22, 2009 - Announces plans to increase its mortgage lending by up to 14 billion pounds over the next two years.
March 3 - Reports a loss of 1.36 billion pounds in 2008.
April 26 - Media report Britain will sell off Northern Rock by the end of 2009. The Sunday Times says the bank would be split in two, with its most toxic loans held in a "bad bank" to remain in government hands and the remainder sold off.
July 1 - Northern Rock says its capital has fallen below the regulatory minimum but it has been cleared to continue business.
Aug 4 - Northern Rock says its first-half losses rose almost 24 percent to 724.2 million pounds ($1.2 billion), as delays to EU approval for its state-backed turnaround hit funding costs.
Aug 18 - Northern Rock says it will defer paying interest on a range of subordinated bonds, propping up its capital position and pre-empting an anticipated European Commission requirement.
Oct 28 - EU approves the plan to break up Northern Rock, allowing Britain to eventually sell parts of the lender.
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(Writing by Carl Bagh, Bangalore Editorial Reference Unit; Additional writing by Jijo Jacob; Additional writing and editing by David Cutler; editing by John Stonestreet)