28 November 2024

The takeover of the Co-operative Bank by Coventry Building Society has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, clearing the last hurdle to completion of the deal.

The takeover will now complete on 1 January 2025.

At its annual gathering in November 2024 members of the Customer Union for Ethical Banking agreed to keep the organisation going. However, the organisation plans to retire the 'Save Our Bank" name, arguing that this job is now done.

Following the latest news the Customer Union for Ethical Banking said:

We’re delighted by this news. We set up the Save Our Bank campaign in 2013 with two main aims: to ensure that the bank stuck to its ethics, and to work for an eventual return to cooperative ownership. We’re now confident that the bank has effectively been “saved” and that these aims have been achieved. As such, we will be hanging up the “Save Our Bank” name.

Following the initial success of the campaign, we established what we believe is the world’s first customer union in 2016, representing more than 1,000 paid-up members who are customers of the bank, and around 10,000 supporters in total. This organisation, the Customer Union for Ethical Banking, will continue, with the primary aim of representing the interests of our members in the new merged organisation. We’re keen to ensure that the ethical policy and principles of the bank are not only maintained but strengthened, and that the new organisation builds on the ethical leadership that the Co-op Bank has established over 30 years. 

The combination Co-op Bank and Coventry creates a strengthened ethical banking sector in the UK, and will lead to more people and businesses being able to ensure their money is invested in line with their values. We are positive about the future for our members, and look forward to representing their interests in a constructive working relationship with the building society.

we will be hanging up the “Save Our Bank” name

The bank's statement:

https://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/content-hub/articles-and-advice/the-c...

Media reports:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyge2q0248o

https://www.thenews.coop/coventry-takeover-of-co-op-bank-gets-the-nod-fr...