The acquisition of the Co-op Bank by the Coventry Building Society, which will return it to the mutual sector, has been given regulatory approval and is expected to complete on 1 January.
The green light from the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority follows the announcement in May that the Coventry and six of the banks’ major owners had signed a share purchase agreement.
Under the deal, the bank will continue to operate as a separate business for some time after completion. In a message to customers today, the bank said “there is no impact to your bank products or services and no changes to Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) deposit protections. We will keep you informed if anything changes.”
The bank hailed a “significant milestone in bringing together both businesses which share a powerful mutual / co-operative heritage. The combined business will provide improved products, value and service for existing and new customers.”
And it warned customers: “Unfortunately, fraudsters often take advantage during times of change to try and persuade people to share personal or financial information. We’ll never ask you for security details, over the phone or by email, so if someone does – please don’t share this information with them.”
It added: “Coventry Building Society and the Co-operative Bank will continue to operate under their current names and branding while we carry out the work needed to provide a joined-up service. This is expected to take several years and in this time the bank’s commitment to co-operative values and ethics and its customer-led Ethical Policy will remain.
Work needed to integrate the two into a joined-up service may take several years, it added, which means there is unlikely to be any immediate changes to the bank’s branch network.
