VOTE now! Proposed take over of Virgin Money - Nationwide members should be given a vote

masonic

Finally a comment from Nationwide on the issue: "A Nationwide spokesman said the campaigners' calculations were 'wrong, misleading and ill-informed'.

'Any serious and accurate assessment of the test set out in the Act must take into account all relevant income, including from liquidity and hedging associated with mortgage activity,' he added."

So it looks like there is a clear justification for not having a vote, and something that the campaign can test in court if they really believe Nationwide has wrong.

26left

masonic said:

Finally a comment from Nationwide on the issue: "A Nationwide spokesman said the campaigners' calculations were 'wrong, misleading and ill-informed'.

'Any serious and accurate assessment of the test set out in the Act must take into account all relevant income, including from liquidity and hedging associated with mortgage activity,' he added."

So it looks like there is a clear justification for not having a vote, and something that the campaign can test in court if they really believe Nationwide has wrong.

Quite a tetchy comment from the spokesman, perhaps the campaign hit a nerve?

I think challenging in court is definitely a route the campaign is considering - see their recent call for volunteers including “legal experts”. Would need someone to either represent pro bono or the campaign to raise funds though. 

masonic

26left said:
I think challenging in court is definitely a route the campaign is considering - see their recent call for volunteers including “legal experts”. Would need someone to either represent pro bono or the campaign to raise funds though. 

I'd imagine a fund raise would be needed even if the campaign is able to find free legal support. Either that or have a lot of members joined to the legal action. Nationwide will inevitably have costs in defending any legal claim, and if they do so successfully, a costs order may be awarded in their favour. It would not be very good for Mikael if he gets lumbered with that personally and potentially has to then rely on the kindness of fellow campaign members to chip in after the fact. But with over 5,000 signatories to the campaign and 250 active supporters on facebook, it should not be hard to find people willing to chip in to the legal campaign. It is in the interests of any member who really believes they will be personally disadvantaged by this deal, has confidence in the campaign, and is convinced by the case that the vote is legally required, to contribute. Like the SGM petition, the money could be refundable upon winning the case. The legal advice the campaign receives would need to be quite compelling, however.

WillPS

masonic said:

 any member who really believes they will be personally disadvantaged by this deal, has confidence in the campaign, and is convinced by the case that the vote is legally required

Roll up! Roll up! Ladies and gentlemen, form an orderly line, this way please...

Foxhouse

It's all gone quiet on here - why's that? Given all the noise generated, and the certainty of the 'campaigners' cause, has a vote been agreed?
Or did the cheque bounce?

Middle_of_the_Road

The petition failed to have the desired effect. I'm sure someone will be along to elaborate and deride those who signed up, as they've just done in the Fairer share payment thread.

masonic

In reality there is little to be done until the AGM period is out of the way. Perhaps some campaigning ahead of AGM voting, but the quick vote option prevents anything impactful taking place. Autumn is the realistic timeframe for the next steps to take place.

WillPS

Middle_of_the_Road said:

The petition failed to have the desired effect. I'm sure someone will be along to elaborate and deride those who signed up, as they've just done in the Fairer share payment thread.

Hello! Nothing further to add to my post, but here's a link in case anyone missed it:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80794605/#Comment_80794605

tl;dr - the whole thing was botched and now, as @masonic notes above, there is nothing to be done until September. We'll find out tomorrow whether there's any nuisance which could even potentially be caused by then.

changearound1

https://www.cityam.com/virgin-money-shareholders-approve-2-9bn-nationwide-takeover/

gravel_2

"The UK competition regulator is to investigate Nationwide’s £2.9 billion takeover of rival Virgin Money.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Friday morning it has launched a merger inquiry in the deal.

It has invited interested parties to give their views on the deal, setting a deadline of June 14 for responses."

https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/nationwide-building-society-slash-virgin-money-merger-inquiry

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/watchdog-launches-investigation-nationwide-virgin-081128705.html