FACTBOX - Financial Services Compensation Scheme

LONDON (Reuters) - The Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the body that provides a safety net for savers, is paying 14 billion pounds to facilitate the sale of stricken lender Bradford & Bingley's deposit business.

Here are some key facts about the FSCS and its role in B&B's partial sale and nationalisation.

- The 14 billion pound payout is by far the biggest ever made by the FSCS. Prior to B&B's crisis, the organisation's combined payments in the seven years since its inception stood at just 1 billion pounds.

- The figure represents the compensation payable to all B&B deposit holders up to the FSCS's individual guarantee limit of 35,000 pounds. The payout was triggered after the Financial Services Authority formally declared B&B in default on Saturday.

- The FSCS money, along with another 4 billion pounds provided by the Treasury, is being transferred to Spanish bank Banco Santander's UK subsidiary Abbey. The full 18 billion pounds is equivalent to B&B's entire retail deposit base, and allows Abbey to take over the its rival's deposit business.

- The FSCS's 14 billion pound contribution is being funded by a Bank of England loan. The money will be repaid on an interest-only basis for three years at a rate of one year Libor plus 30 basis points, currently 6.8 percent, with repayments on the principal to start after that.

- The cost of paying interest on the Bank of England loan will be met through a levy on institutions whose deposits are covered by the FSCS. The FSCS has said the total levy from deposit-takers will not exceed the current ceiling of 1.84 billion pounds per year.

- Separately from deposits, the FSCS guarantees investments to a maximum value of 48,000 pounds per person, and offers to pay the bulk of any outstanding life assurance, pension, or general insurance claim in the event of an insurer becoming insolvent.

(Reporting by Myles Neligan; Editing by Paul Bolding)