On
the 30 December the Society received notification from a small number of members that it
was their intention to have moved at the next Annual General Meeting of the Society a
resolution calling for the Board of Directors to take immediate steps to convert the
Society to PLC status.
In addition, Michael Harden, s butler from London, was nominated as a candidate for
election as a Director of the Society. It is understood that similar approaches have been
made to six other building societies.
We have now had
an opportunity to check the validity both of the resolution and of the nomination. The
Society has rejected the proposed nomination of Michael Harden as a Director and the
proposed resolution relating to a change in the Society’s status on the grounds that
neither of these matters achieved the requisite level of support under the Society’s
Rules to be put forward.
Martin Ritchley, Chief Executive of the Coventry, restates the Society’s position.
"We have repeatedly made it abundantly clear that we have no intention of charging
from being a building society to become a bank. These developments have in no way affected
the Board’s view that the long term interests of Coventry members, present and
future, are best served by our remaining a building society.
"As customers of the PLC banks are discovering to their cost, building societies
do not have to pay dividends to outside shareholders. This enables us to deliver
significant long term advantage t our savers and borrowers in terms of better products and
interest rates. We at the Coventry aim to build upon the advantages of our building
society status and continue to provide out members with real benefits in the form of first
rate products and services for many generations to come."
