Aug 10, 2010
Vince Cable U-turns on re-mutualisation
Business Secretary Vince Cable has gone back on the Liberal Democrats' manifesto commitment to re-mutualise Northern Rock, showing that their devotion to a new approach to the economy is just a sham. read more »
Apr 16, 2010
Labour Party Manifesto calls for re-mutualisation of Northern Rock
The “Feeling’s Mutual” campaign received a massive boost with the news that the Labour Party’s General Election Manifesto includes a commitment to the re-mutualisation of Northern Rock. read more »
Mar 01, 2010
Why mutuals work
The arguments for mutuality are pretty simple. Co-operatives and mutual organisations differ from their PLC competitors in one crucial respect, they exist to provide a service for their members rather than to generate profits for external shareholders. This means that there are no conflicts of interest between the claims of consumers and owners, and no incentive to exploit customers for short term gain. Profits are shared amongst the members (customers), rather than external shareholders. read more »
Mar 01, 2010
Cameron’s Conservatives Have No Right To Lecture on Financial Services
David Cameron has spent a lot of time lecturing about the economy and the mistakes that have led us into this financial crisis. It is perhaps unsurprising that one of the major factors that has impacted us in this crisis has been missing from his analysis. read more »
Nov 13, 2009
The Financial Crisis Hits Home
In March 2007, as the crisis was beginning to break, the value of US subprime mortgages was approximately $1.3 trillion, with over 7.5 million mortgages outstanding. These high risk sub-prime loans were bundled together with other home loans and converted into paper ‘asset-backed securities’ that were traded on the international financial markets; traders often earning millions of dollars in bonuses for trading them at a profit. read more »
Nov 13, 2009
A stronger, more vibrant Mutual Sector
Financial mutuals have weathered the global crisis much better than their shareholder counterparts. While they have not been immune to the crisis, they have on the whole shown themselves to take fewer risks with savers’ money; and have not required the same level of assistance from Government as required by the private sector. read more »
Nov 13, 2009
They Came, They Saw and They Cashed In – The Story of Demutualisation
Demutualisation was one of the worst cases of corporate misdeeds and intergenerational theft of the modern era. Building Society boards, city investors and carpetbaggers all came, saw and they cashed in. Billions of pounds worth of assets, accumulated by generations of building society members, were sold for the price of a windfall; the value of which was (on average) clawed back by the demutualised societies within four years from their customers. read more »
Nov 13, 2009
A new settlement between banks and society
Given the unprecedented support our financial institutions have received from the public purse, it is vital they recognise their obligations to society– whose taxes, jobs and livelihoods have been put at risk by their greed. read more »
Oct 13, 2009
Sub prime
The global financial meltdown began with irresponsible lending of home loans to high risk borrowers in the United States, many of whom could not afford to repay them. These ‘sub-prime loans’ funded by easily available credit fueled high house price inflation; higher house prices that were used to secure ever increasing debt. read more »
Oct 13, 2009
Remutualisation
A strong and vibrant mutual sector must be a key feature of our future economy if we are to avoid the mistakes of the past. Our Government was right to take the action it did in ensuring the survival of the banks in the short term, including taking some into public ownership. read more »
