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Customer Union for Ethical Banking

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Customer Union for Ethical Banking
FoundedFebruary 2016[1]
HeadquartersUnit 21, 41 Old Birley Street, Manchester, M15 5RF
Location
  • United Kingdom
Members
1,200 (2019)[2]
Websitesaveourbank.coop

The Customer Union for Ethical Banking is a United Kingdom consumer organisation campaigning for The Co-operative Bank to maintain and strengthen its ethical standards and return to co-operative ownership in the future.[3] It has also played a part in pressuring the leadership of the bank to implement external auditors for its annual values and ethics report.[4] It has over 10,000 registered supporters among the bank's customers, as well as 1,200 paying members.[5]

Issues at the bank

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In the first half of 2013, the Co-operative Bank (then a subsidiary of the Co-operative Group) lost £700m, making the planned expansion of the bank impossible, and raising some warning signs for the bank's customers. Later that year, in May, a £1.5bn "black hole" was found in the bank's accounts. This failing was largely blamed on the bank's chairman, Paul Flowers and the takeover of Britannica Building Society in 2009.[6][7]

This led to the eventual takeover of the bank by several hedge funds, to plug the financial gap of the bank, which otherwise would have collapsed.[8] In April 2017, the Co-operative group sold off its remaining 20% stake in the bank, marking an end to co-operative ownership. At this time, serious questions were raised by the Save our Bank campaign about its ethical status, with the union saying that the bank 'would not stand a chance' if it did not continue with its ethical policy.[9][10]

History of the union

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The consumer union was born out of the Ethical Consumer Magazine's Save our Bank campaign, which was spun off into a separate co-operative society in 2016, after a successful £30,000 crowdfunding campaign was completed. The union says that becoming a co-operative society will help their members to 'contribute to the debate on how to keep ethics at the heart of financial decision-making at the Co-op Bank'.[11] In 2019, the Customer Union signed a recognition agreement with the bank.[12]

In the future, the union has said that it will hold the Co-operative group to account for the continued implementation of its ethical policy. It also plans in the future to slowly buy a share in the bank, in a bid for an eventual return to co-operative ownership.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "FCA Mutuals Register". Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Customers clinch victory as Co-op Bank recognises ethics campaign". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. ^ "A union of Co-op bank customers | Save Our Bank". saveourbank.coop. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  4. ^ correspondent, Kalyeena Makortoff Banking (2019-12-05). "Customers clinch victory as Co-op Bank recognises ethics campaign". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-06-30. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ "Save Our Bank". Ethical Consumer. 2018-05-30. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  6. ^ "Co-operative Bank's former chairman 'seeking help' after drugs admission". THE GUARDIAN. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Profile: Paul Flowers". The Telegraph.
  8. ^ "Co-op Group makes loss as bank stake written off". BBC. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Co-op Group makes loss as bank stake written off". BBC.
  10. ^ "Co-operative Group's stake in Co-op bank to fall to 1%". BBC News. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  11. ^ "CUEB gathering on ethical future of Co-op Bank". Co-op News. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
  12. ^ "Co-operative Bank signs agreement with customers union". Co-op News.
  13. ^ "Save Our Bank". Ethical Consumer. 2018-05-30. Retrieved 2020-06-30.