The board of the Co-op Bank has announced that it is seeking new owners, while also looking at alternative ways of raising capital.
The bank has issued a statement to customers.
They gave us a similar statement:
Message from The Co-operative Bank CEO Liam Coleman
The Customer Union for Ethical Banking is - we think - the first ever co-operative customer union.
We launched in Crowdfunder campaign late in 2015 to raise funds to set the union up. That crowdfunder was very successful with some 1,500 people signing up to contribute and become a member of the Customer Union.
In the time since then, we have been busy.
The Co-operative Bank: Saving a Great Idea
Cartoon by Martin Rowson
Thanks to Martin and Red Pepper magazine
On 6 July, Save Our Bank, Amnesty International UK and the Fund for Global Human Rights organised a discussion meeting on the impact of bank account closures on charities and campaign groups.
The highly-productive all-day meeting was attended by representatives from some of the best-known organisations affected by account closures, smaller affected groups, and experts from more than one country on the issues of bank regulation and its effect on civil society.
Save Our Bank's view on the Co-op Bank's Values and Ethics Report 2015
In late May 2016, the Co-op Bank published its 59-page Values and Ethics Report for 2015.
Closure of accounts for Palestinian support groups
Over recent weeks we have been contacted by supporters complaining that organisations working to support Palestinians are having their accounts closed by the Co-op Bank. We took this up with the bank as details continued to emerge.
The bank sent us the following statement concerning the closure of the some accounts for organisations supporting Palestine, including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
When Save Our Bank was set up the Co-operative Bank was in crisis. A rescue bid left the bank in mostly private hands - just 20% stayed with the former owners, The Co-operative Group. Soon there were the revelations about Paul Flowers that added to the sense of crisis.
Many customers decided that they no longer believed in the bank. They didn't trust it to stick to its principles. They wanted a co-operative bank, owned by its customers rather than hedge funds. And they left in large numbers.
