Building Societies in the Financial Services Industry.pdf

BUILDING SOCIETIES BUILDING SOCIETIES IN THE FINANCIAL IN THE FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY SERVICES INDUSTRY Barbara Casu andBarbara Casu and Andrew GallAndrew Gall Building Societies in the Financial Services Industry Barbara Casu ? Andrew Gall Building Societies in the Financial Services Industry v Building societies and, indeed, the mutual concept itself were written off by many in the late 1990s. Those societies that saw themselves as innova- tive, risk-taking, and entrepreneurial had proudly cast away what they saw as the constraints of their mutual status. By 2000, they were ready to take their full and rightful role in the new, free, globalised i nancial markets that had been created by new technology and regulatory reform over the previous two decades. A decade later, the ambition, excitement, and sense of self-belief among those who led this change had disappeared. By 2009, not a single one of the ten building societies that had turned themselves into banks retained their individual existence, and a number had been rescued by the taxpayer. In contrast, most of those societies that remained mutual, and fought to reinvent and enhance the meaning of mutuality, survived the i nancial cri- sis, and came out of it stronger. One of the most remarkable statistics in this e new book by Barbara Casu and Andrew Gall is that between 2011 and 2014, mutual building societies accounted for 90 % new mortgage lending. The history of this period is fascinating, and Casu and Gall provide a range of insights. The wealth of data in this book means it is set to e a standard statistical text on developments in this area. However, the authors go further, with helpful interpretations and analysis of market developments, i nancial performance, and customer views. The impact of regulatory change is not ignored; indeed, it is explained in some detail. It is interesting to rel ect that, to some extent, the country chose to go down a route that