March 2002 – Five directors are stated to be standing for re-election although two have never previously been elected. Our Comment – Another touch of amnesia or fiddling in the boardroom?
News
March 2002 – Information on Loyalty Bonuses has been sent to members. The majority of payments amount to a few pounds. Accompanying literature states “Mutuality – how it works for you” and goes on to say that members can have their say on how the society is run. Our Comment – The heading should be “Mutuality…
February 2002 – The DTI has announced that there is to be a government review of the role of non-executive directors due to concerns about lack of independence, close ties that sometimes exist between executives and non-executives and the small circle of people holding large numbers of boardroom positions.
February 2002 – Some directors feel that it is safe to report their annual payments in the Summary Reports after the last three years of greed. However, although year over year figures are shown for balance sheet results as in the Full Report, directors are still rather shy about showing comparative years for payments to themselves. …
February 2002 – The Scarborough has opened a new postal savings account that offers 0.2% gross up to £24,999 and 0.4% gross up to £250,000!! Our Comment – We hope that not too many people get killed in the rush. However, it is not expected to entice new members. The account is actually another “trick of the…
January 2002 – A league table produced by Chase de Vere Investments for the performance of TESSAs, over a five year period ending December 2001, shows the Julian Hodge Bank as the top performer with Northern Rock in second place. Nationwide the self-styled “consumers’ champion” was 34th out of 56 types of TESSAs from 40 different…
January 2002 – The Nationwide is advertising for a non-executive director to replace a retiring director at the next AGM. The candidates will be selected and one will be appointed by the board in March but will not be nominated by members. Our Comment – This open advertisement is seen as part of a PR exercise…
January 2002 – Did you know that the Banking Code applies to building societies as well as banks? The Banking Code is a voluntary code of self-regulation for basic good behaviour that banks and building societies are supposed to adhere to but many do not. The code is produced by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA)…
December 2001 – A Moneyfacts research report shows the top two best-buy places for mortgages to be Egg and HSBC. Nationwide with no shareholders was third.
December 2001 – The Financial Ombudsman has ruled that Britannia should compensate members who have TESSAs for not paying interest at the same level as ISAs. However, Britannia directors do not give in to mutuality too easily, they will only compensate those people who go through the complaints procedure. Those who do not complain will not…