28.— (1) The consideration for the assets and liabilities transferred under a transfer order shall be the aggregate of the market value of all of those assets, less the aggregate of the market value of all of those liabilities, as at the time of the transfer order.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), and subject to subsections (3) and (4), the market value of assets and liabilities shall be taken to be—

(a) in the case of assets, the amount that the transferee is willing to pay for those assets, and

(b) in the case of liabilities, the amount that the transferee is willing to accept in return for assuming those liabilities, or the book value of those liabilities, whichever is the lower.

(3) The Bank shall, before making a proposed transfer order and so far as practicable in all the circumstances (including, where relevant, the urgent need to resolve the financial instability of the transferor) carry out a competitive process that allows the determination of market value, unless the proposed transferee is a bridge-bank.

(4) The Bank shall, before applying for a variation of a transfer order under section 33 (1) and so far as practicable in all the circumstances (including, where relevant, the urgent need to resolve financial instability of the transferor) carry out a competitive process that allows the determination of the market value.