Big Society role for Co-op
DAVID Anderson, former chief executive of Co-operative Financial Services, is to head up a non-profit organisation that will provide a major source of funding for David Cameron’s Big Society Bank, City A.M. can reveal.
The Reclaim Fund, which will manage up to £400m in assets from “dormant” bank accounts that have not been accessed for 15 years, is to be established this week as a subsidiary of the Co-op, with Anderson as chairman.
Paul Mills, a business leader at the Co-op, will be executive director in charge of administrating the fund, which is expected to channel £100m to the Big Lottery Fund in its first year.
The Big Lottery will in turn fund the Big Society Bank, with banks signed up to the government’s Merlin deal providing another £200m in funds.