UK finance body lands co-operation deal with colossal Chinese bank June 17, 2014 The government has been keen to promote business ties with China since at least the beginning of the current coalition – today’s visit by Premier Li Keqiang has been no exception. TheCityUK today signed a memorandum of understanding with a massive Chinese government bank, with a little help from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office [...]
Co-op bank hires new ethics director May 27, 2014 TOP LAWYER Laura Carstensen was yesterday appointed to improve behaviour at the Co-op Bank. She is now a non-executive director and will chair the values and ethics committee, designed to make sure the bank sticks to co-operative principles. Carstensen was formerly a partner at Slaughter and May as well as deputy chairman of the Competition Commission.
How the Co-op’s botched deal has cut TSB out of half of the mortgage market May 27, 2014 New high street bank TSB can only access half of the mortgage market because it does not have the systems in place to sell through mortgage brokers, chief executive Paul Pester said today – and it is thanks to the Co-op’s botched attempt to buy the lender. As 40 to 50 per cent of [...]
Ben Reid checks out of Co-op Group after vote for reforms May 19, 2014 VETERAN Co-op Group board member Ben Reid announced his resignation yesterday, leaving the firm after a turbulent year and 14 years on the board in total. The Co-op offered no comment on the move other than that Reid was stepping down, but people familiar with the situation suggested that Reid’s departure had long been on [...]
Co-op Group clings onto vital stake in its bank May 11, 2014 HEDGE funds backing the Co-operative Bank have helped plug the latest £400m capital hole at the troubled lender, increasing their own stake in the bank. The Co-op Group’s stake in the bank has been cut from 30 per cent to 20.2 per cent. As a result, the group does not have to pay even more [...]
Co-op Bank to raise £400m as it confirms chair’s resignation May 9, 2014 It’s more upheaval for the beleaguered Co-op Bank. The lender’s announced this morning that it’s looking to raise more than £400m by the end of 2014, in a bid to bolster its finances. It's also confirmed that its chairman, Richard Pym, will step down by the end of the year, after holding the position since [...]
Myners: Co-op insiders must accept change May 7, 2014 THE CO-OP Group’s directors need to be swept out and replaced with experienced business people if the group is to begin to turn itself around, Lord Myners said in a strongly worded report published yesterday. But the peer fears that only Co-op insiders will get a vote on shaking up governance at this month’s annual [...]
Could you be more proficient than any of the Co-op’s regional directors? May 7, 2014 If there's a thread flowing through the Co-op Bank's problems – it's one of a skills deficiency. Much of the bank's senior management seems to have shown an appalling lack of basic experience. Speaking to the Treasury Select Committee today, Lord Paul Myners flags a neat example of this extensive failure. While on the Co-op [...]
Co-op Bank’s Flowers fined £400 after pleading guilty to drugs offences May 7, 2014 Former Co-op Bank boss Paul Flowers has been fined £400 after pleading guilty to charges of possessing drugs. Flowers was also ordered to pay £125 in costs at Leeds Magistrates’ Court. The disgraced Methodist minister was arrested in November, having stepped down from the struggling Co-op Bank six months earlier.
Ball in Co-op’s court as Myners slams “dysfunctional group board” May 7, 2014 Former city minister Lord Myners has said the Co-operative Group needs radical reform including smaller boards and greater attention to profitability. Lord Myners' report slammed the Co-op's governance structure, concluding it had a "manifestly dysfunctional group board." In what would be a significant departure from the Group's 150-year history, the report recommended that a smaller [...]