Jim Armitage: Sniffing danger on borrowing

Nationwide’s caution on bad debts reminds us all that the good times can’t roll forever.

With interest rates at such absurdly low levels, of course defaults are at historic lows. But there’s a growing whiff of hawkishness on the cost of borrowing at the Bank of England; Nationwide has sniffed it and acted first. Other lenders may now follow.

Lloyds boss Antonio Horta Osorio, who’s just spent £2 billion on MBNA’s unsecured credit card debt, might not sleep so soundly tonight.

More dynastic dramas in Germany’s real-life Dallas-style soap. Ferdinand Piëch is said to have warned fellow directors on the Volkswagen board about its diesel emissions cheating six months before it became public.

The 79-year-old — once chief executive of VW — was ousted soon after. VW denies his claim, and is now threatening to sue him over the allegations (which he has yet to comment on). It’s all good, dirty fun, given added spice by Piëch’s status as the great Ferdinand Porsche’s grandson.

What’s been lost, though, is the question of why — once he’d had no joy from the board at his attempted whistleblowing — he didn’t go public.

At the time, he allegedly spoke up, the shares were a blissfully ignorant €253. They plunged to €92 when the scandal broke and have only partially recovered since, costing investors billions.

Surely directors have a duty to inform the market of material events in timely fashion.

Piëch, like the rest of the VW board, has serious questions to answer.