The secondary banks, like the larger institutions, had been lending heavily based on the previously rising housing prices of the late 1960s and early 1970s, borrowing excessively in relation to the collateral assets. A sudden downturn in house prices and increases in interest rates well before the November 1973 oil crisis left the smaller institutions holding many loans secured by property with lower value than the loans. The Bank of England, led by Jasper Hollom,[1] conducted negotiations resulting in bail-outs of around 30 of the smaller banks and intervened to assist some 30 others.