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| Co-op Bank and Britannia merger 'should never had happened' | Co-op Bank and Britannia merger 'should never had happened' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Co-operative Bank's merger with the Britannia building society in 2009 should never have happened, a major review of the organisation has said. | The Co-operative Bank's merger with the Britannia building society in 2009 should never have happened, a major review of the organisation has said. |
| Sir Christopher Kelly's report blames the deal for the bank's near-collapse last year. | |
| His report states both companies had problems that were exacerbated by the merger. | His report states both companies had problems that were exacerbated by the merger. |
| It also points to failings in management and governance "on many levels". | It also points to failings in management and governance "on many levels". |
| Sir Christopher added the deal might have worked had the organisation received first-class leadership, but "sadly it did not". | |
| Sir Christopher told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme: "It is the merger [between the Co-op Bank and the Britannia], not the Britannia itself that caused the problems." | |
| He said both organisations brought problems to the deal. | |
| In Britannia's case, it was the vast size and unwieldiness of its commercial property loan book. | |
| But the Co-op Bank had several problems of its own, including its approach to risk when lending money to customers and a large IT project that was already under way, which the merger "vastly complicated". | |
| Sir Christopher added that the Co-op Bank "had a legacy of mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI), which was not unusual at the time, but is particularly disappointing for an ethical bank". |