There were renewed fears today over lender Northern Rock's ability to repay its £24 billion taxpayer debts.
More than 70% - or £53 billion - of the beleaguered firm's mortgages are owned by a Jersey-based offshore company, newspaper reports said, raising doubts about its mortgage assets.
The Newcastle-based lender uses a web of offshore companies under the Granite name for fundraising based on its mortgages, with the Bank of England's emergency lending also secured against its home loans.
But the complexity of the system means it is unclear how much of the assets the Bank would have a claim to if Northern Rock was wound up. Investors in the bank's mortgage-backed fundraising - known as securitisation - could also have a claim on the mortgages, the newspaper adds.
Shares were off another 6.5p, or 8%, to 77.6 pence.