In yet another sign of the financial crisis spreading from US to Europe, the British government has decided to nationalise the beleaguered mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley.

The Treasury announced on Monday, that the British government would take over the bank’s mortgage and loan books, worth 50 billion pounds or $90 billion in an attempt to maintain financial stability in the country. The government has also incurred an additional expense of 18 billion pounds or $30 billion in order to facilitate the sale of the savings business of Bradford & Bingley to Banco Santander of Spain. According to the terms of the sale, Santander would pay 612 million pounds or $1.1 billion for the complete retail network of Bradford & Bingley which includes 197 branches and deposits of 20 billion pounds.

Banco Santander is the second largest bank in Europe and its purchase of the retail division of Bradford &Bingley marks the latest instance of major financial institutions being brought back from the brink, either by acquisition or government rescue. While Fortis, the Belgian and Dutch financial firm received a boost from joined efforts by three European governments, Germany’s Hypo Real Estate Holding AG was saved from collapse by a multibillion euro line of credit from several European banks.