Presbyterian Mutual
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Presbyterian Mutual Society, also known as Presbyterian Mutual, is a
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
-based
mutual society A mutual organization, also mutual society or simply mutual, is an organization (which is often, but not always, a company or business) based on the principle of mutuality and governed by private law. Unlike a cooperative, members usually do not ...
with around 9.500 investors, most of whom are members of the
Presbyterian Church in Ireland The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI; ; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Prisbytairin Kirk in Airlann'') is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of Ireland, and the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland. ...
. The society has been put into administration after a run on the society in October 2008 when £21 million of its £25 million reserves were withdrawn. Presbyterian Mutual had lent heavily to the commercial property developers and the
buy to let Buy-to-let is a British phrase referring to the purchase of a property specifically to let out, that is to rent it out. A ''buy-to-let'' mortgage is a mortgage loan specifically designed for this purpose. Buy-to-let properties are usually residen ...
sector. The loss of funds was attributed to the fact that commercial banks had their deposits guaranteed, in contrast to the Mutual's unguaranteed status. The then Minister for Employment and Learning, Sir Reg (now Lord) Empey, amongst others, called for the
Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...
to compensate investors. The Treasury subsequently set up a Working Group to consider what action could be taken.
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
talked with Northern Ireland's political leaders on its future on February 12, 2010. In October 2010
George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born 23 May 1971) is a British retired politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the Cameron government. A ...
announced a £200 million payment to compensate savers as part of the
Comprehensive Spending Review A spending review, or occasionally a comprehensive spending review, is a governmental process in the United Kingdom carried out by HM Treasury to set firm expenditure limits and, through public service agreements, define the key improvements that ...
. The final bill came to £232 million, and the first cheques for repayment were sent on 2 August 2011. Around 10,000 people were affected by the collapse. As of 2021, the Society's administrators (supervisors) declared that they would be unable to secure full repayment of the 175 million pounds due, and so investors with outstanding monies due would not receive them back. All savers who invested less than £20,000 have been more or less fully compensated but those with higher amounts were left with deficits of 15 to 23%.


References


External links

* Friendly societies of the United Kingdom Presbyterian Church in Ireland {{UK-finance-company-stub