News

March 2022 – It’s AGM time again.  Time for the annual insults to be sent out to members of building societies.  The insults being the biased voting papers with the “Quick Vote” option being the dominant feature on the ballot paper – where you are required to place your cross and not read anything else…

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January 2022 – The Financial Mail on Sunday reports that this building society that makes regular claims to be open, honest and transaparent, has been holding secretly talks with with a view to the take over of a bank – TSB.  This is reported to have been a resumption of talks first begun in 2020.  And…

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January 2022 – The Bank of England raised interest rates last month so building societies are busy increasing mortgage rates, with Nationwide revealing a raft of rises this week.  But while Britain’s biggest society has been quick off the mark with mortgage rate rises its savings rates remain low as is their custom. Thisismoney reports –…

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January 2022 – Nationwide Building Society has taken the lead for mortgage rate rises on more than half of its mortgages in response to the base rate rise, with some products going up by three times the 0.15 per cent bank rate increase. Nationwide has increased rates on 238 mortgages with rises of between 0.05…

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December 2022 – Nationwide Building Society has appointed TSB boss Debbie Crosbie as its next chief executive and executive director.  She will be replaced on an interim basis at TSB by Glasgow-based banker Robin Bulloch and will join Nationwide in the first half of 2022.  She will replace Joe Garner, the current chief exec, who is leaving after…

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July 2021 – Manchester Building Society has finally won its case against Grant Thornton after pursing the firm through the lower court and the court of appeal.  However damages awarded, amounting to £13.4m, are just over a third of the claim made by the society. The case related to audit services provided by Grant Thornton…

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April 2021 – A Government consultation sets out a package of measures because of concerns about the credibility of directors’ reporting and the statutory audit.  The review is aimed at improving the UK’s audit, corporate reporting and corporate governance systems. It includes views expressed in responses to initial consultations on recommendations made by the Independent…

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April 2021 – A strategic review (yet another one) carried out by Whitecap Consultants, a strategy consultation company, in conjunction with the BSA and others, endeavoured to obtain the views and understanding of the meaning of mutuality from the directors of all building societies.  This presented a difficult challenge for the building society directors all…

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March 2021 – It’s AGM time again at many building societies and as usual their annual reports show that directors have been awarding themselves large amounts of members’ money despite the hardships suffered by so many due to the Covid pandemic.  Their savings interest rates are close to zero and savers receive peanuts but life…

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