Let Nationwide members vote on Virgin Money bid, says Baroness Altmann

Former pensions minister Baroness Altmann (pictured) says Nationwide’s members ought to be capable of vote on the Virgin Money deal

Nationwide’s members ought to be given the prospect to vote on its deliberate takeover of Virgin Money, a Conservative peer has stated.

Baroness Altmann, a former pensions minister, stated it ‘would be wise’ of the constructing society to seek the advice of its greater than 14m members over the £3billion deal which shocked the City when it was introduced final week.

The deal would create Britain’s second-biggest financial savings and loans group and catapult Nationwide into the highest tiers of retail banking with £366billion in belongings and practically 700 branches. 

But Altmann stated working the deal previous members was ‘important’. She stated: ‘It would be wise for Nationwide members to be given a say in the takeover of Virgin Money.

‘The whole beauty of a mutual is that it is run in the interests of its members who have voting rights too and giving them the chance to exercise their right in a major transaction seems sensible.’

A member of a serious shareholder advisory group, who requested to not be named, stated they ‘couldn’t see why there shouldn’t be a member vote’ on the deal. 

On Sunday, monetary providers knowledgeable and Lib Dem peer Baroness Bowles stated the deal regarded good on paper however members ought to be consulted as it might imply Nationwide was ‘jumping into the big bank league’.

But Nationwide’s administration, led by chief govt Debbie Crosbie, has argued any vote would ‘tie the board’s palms’ and prohibit its potential to purchase a listed financial institution. 

She stated the mixed group ‘would bring the benefits of fairer banking and mutual ownership to more people in the UK’. The constructing society is anticipated to put in writing to members concerning the deal inside weeks.