UK Building Societies at risk (Co-op, Nationwide etc)

[meanig]

For UK bitcoiners.

In case you missed it today,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10049762/Co-op-rules-out-state-aid-as-boss-quits-amid-capital-fears.html

Co-op rules out state aid as boss quits amid capital fears

The lender, which is part of the Co-operative Group, announced that Barry Tootell had “chosen to step down” with immediate effect, a day after the bank’s credit was downgraded to junk status by Moody’s.

Mr Tootell was said to have “decided that the time was right to stand down” because he had been running the “Verde” deal to buy 632 branches from Lloyds Banking Group which collapsed last month. The bank announced that he would be temporarily replaced by Rod Bulmer, the Co-op executive who had been driving Verde day to day.

The resignation added to a sense of crisis after Moody’s said the bank’s capital levels were too low and had been made worse by “substantial losses”, particularly in commercial property loans it acquired with Britannia Building Society in 2009.

The credit rating agency said the lender was “unlikely to be able to generate a significant amount of capital through earnings” so it would have to seek “external” help.

A major event you would have thought but it didn't even get a mention on the BBC 6 o'clock news! The powers that be must be wary of another Northern Rock situation so don't expect too much mainstream media comment on the situation.

The Co-op by itself isn't a major player but it's important for a couple of reasons. Firstly it's the private bank of the Labour party. All of the successful Labour election campaigns were funded through Co-op borrowings and many of the remaining trade unions bank there too.

Would the coalition be willing to bail out Labour and unions?

The second reason is even more worrying. All CHAPS payments are routed through the Co-op. If they go down in flames we could be looking at days of chaos where no building society can make any payments.

Fun times ahead 

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[Lethn]

Yeah, saw this as well, I'm seriously considering now adopting Bitcoin entirely, I have a co-op bank account and thought they were fairly safe, I'm actually thinking about having a serious talk with my parents to try and convince them to buy some Bitcoins, even a small percentage will probably help them a lot.

[Stampbit]

I put everything thing i have into bitcoin, oh look im a millionaire, wait, wait, now im broke, oops spoke too soon i think i can afford a side of fries....

[gendal]

The second reason is even more worrying. All CHAPS payments are routed through the Co-op. If they go down in flames we could be looking at days of chaos where no building society can make any payments.

Fun times ahead 

*All* CHAPS payments? Are you sure?  Perhaps they act as the CHAPS clearing member for some smaller building societies... but they're just one of eighteen CHAPS members.... there are seventeen others.

http://www.chapsco.co.uk/membership/current_members/

[meanig]

The second reason is even more worrying. All CHAPS payments are routed through the Co-op. If they go down in flames we could be looking at days of chaos where no building society can make any payments.

Fun times ahead 

*All* CHAPS payments? Are you sure?  Perhaps they act as the CHAPS clearing member for some smaller building societies... but they're just one of eighteen CHAPS members.... there are seventeen others.

http://www.chapsco.co.uk/membership/current_members/

Yes I said that clumsily. I meant it provides CHAPS clearing for all of the other building societies including the largest one, Nationwide.

[meanig]

The shitstorm at Co-op bank continues to get worse. Now their former Chairman, Methodist Minister Paul Flowers, has admitted to indulging in Ketamine and Crystal Meth while on the job and relaxing at the weekends by having gay orgies with strangers he met on Grindr. Apparently he was on a Ketamine comedown whilst giving evidence to MPs about how his bank lost billions of pounds. During the intervals he was on the phone to his dealer looking for more of the stuff 



http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/23/coop-scandal-paul-flowers-mutual-societies?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

The Co-op scandal: drugs, sex, religion … and the humiliation of a movement
Revelations about the behaviour of former Co-op Bank chairman Paul Flowers are very bad news not just for the Methodist minister, but for mutual societies in general – as well as Labour

Two and a half years ago, on a crisp spring afternoon in Glasgow, the Reverend Paul Flowers, chairman of the Co-operative Bank, was having a jolly time of it. After he'd enjoyed the hospitality of the directors' box at Glasgow's Hampden stadium, Flowers' broad features gave away his immense personal satisfaction at the cacophony of noise that greeted his handing over of the Co-operative Insurance Cup to Rangers captain David Weir. He even offered a small cheer. It was, a rueful Labour MP admitted last week, rather typical of the flamboyant, 63-year-old Flowers. "He loved the limelight and I suppose, well, people just thought: that's Paul."

That slight unease, sometimes made audible at Co-op meetings in the form of a nervous laugh at the chairman's latest extravagance, or a gentle tut-tut at his florid language and overbearing nature, has metamorphosed into a veritable roar of outrage in the past week.

On 13 November an acquaintance of Flowers phoned the news desk of the Mail on Sunday offering a trove of information on the Methodist minister-turned-councillor-turned-banker. Four days later the paper published, under the eye-grabbing headline "Crystal Meth Shame of Bank Chief", three pages of allegations, including incriminating text messages and video footage, reporting on purchases of Class A substances ranging from cocaine to ketamine and his hopes for a "drug-fuelled gay orgy".

The state of the bank at the moment is 5 million customers, a balance sheet of £40 billion and enormous losses still to be realised from their takeover of Britannia building society. The Bank of England will probably do all it can to save them from collapse but with them being a major contributor to the Labour party the Conservatives might throw a spanner in the works.

Stay tuned for more scandals, writedowns, losses and bank runs