In 2008 the Northern Rock bank was nationalised by the British government, due to financial problems caused by the subprime mortgage crisis. In 2010 the bank was split into two parts (assets and banking) to aid the eventual sale of the bank back to the private sector. In 2012 Virgin Money completed the purchase of Northern Rock from UK Financial Investments (UKFI) for approximately £1 billion and by October of that year the high street bank operated under the Virgin Money brand.