Elect James Sherwin-Smith to represent Nationwide building society members
Why the building society’s remuneration vote is advisory, dominated by the Quick Vote, and supported by just 4% of members. At last year’s AGM, the increased package for the CEO of up to £7m was branded by one member as an “obscenity”, as reported at the time in The Guardian. Private Eye noticed at the […]
You might have seen reports in the press this week that the High Court has approved the transfer of Virgin Money’s business into Nationwide (e.g. The Sun, The Mirror). This was a legal application made by Nationwide to transfer nearly all assets, liabilities and customers of Clydesdale Bank plc (trading as Virgin Money) into Nationwide. […]
[Originally posted on Linkedin] The Government recently announced that it is “pressing ahead with plans to allow Virtual AGMs“. In my view this would be a backward step, both for the UK, and for Corporate Governance standards. Before you think that the above is simply HMG support for hybrid (combined physical and virtual) meetings, think […]
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Nationwide Building Society £44,078,500 after identifying serious weaknesses in the society’s anti-money laundering (AML) systems and controls (see also reports from Guardian, BBC). The regulator’s Final Notice published on 11 December 2025 states that between October 2016 and July 2021 Nationwide’s financial crime controls were not sufficiently effective, […]
This Is Money / Mail on Sunday has launched a campaign today to save shareholder meetings, as it is rightly concerned that virtual AGMs limit the ability for owners from holding organisations to account, and may even be illegal. The timing couldn’t be better given Nationwide members still have the opportunity to vote and attend […]
Nationwide building society has historically taken a strong stance, and made some stronger statements, regarding its branch network. Yet branch closures and reduced opening hours are some of the first topics that come up in my conversations with members, staff and former staff. While Nationwide has now promised not to close any Nationwide branches before […]
Kalyeena Makortoff, writing in The Guardian today, has highlighted Nationwide’s blatant double standard when it comes to executive pay. Nationwide is arguing that its executives should be paid in a comparable way to executives at large UK banks, but as Nationwide is a building society, members should not be granted a binding vote on the […]
In the last few days, Nationwide members will have received the Chairman’s letter 2025, inviting members to vote and attend this year’s virtual-only Annual General Meeting (AGM). One claim that stood out for me and I wanted to check its veracity: “Since we made the meeting online, we’ve had the highest member attendance for over […]
Private Eye (issue 1652, page 8) draws attention to the award of a damehood to Debbie Crosbie, Nationwide CEO, under the title of “KING’S BIRTHDAY TREATS: Honours round-up.” If you’re a Nationwide member, and don’t agree with paying a mutual society CEO 280x what a junior member of staff receives, you may want to use […]
My thanks to Michael Bow at the Telegraph for a long article examining the impact Dame Debbie Crosbie is having at Nationwide building society. Read the full article here (25 June 2025): How Nationwide’s £7m boss became Britain’s most controversial banker Michael quoted me throughout the article, sharing some of my concerns with regard to […]
With 17 million Nationwide building society members, the majority of whom are presumed to be eligible to vote (i.e. more than some sovereign countries), the “modern” mutual’s 2025 AGM should be a leading example of democracy and corporate governance in action. Instead the largest building society in the world exhibits contempt for its members by […]
Costs related to the Virgin Money bank acquisition continue to rise at Nationwide building society. With years of integration work yet to begin, Nationwide members should be concerned. When the deal was proposed, the building society sought to placate its members (who were calling for a vote) with assurances that the deal represented “good value” […]
Great to read this article from Patrick Tooher in today’s Daily Mail addressing this important topic (which also kindly quoted me). You can read the article online: Don’t turn up! Big firms bar investors from AGMs Limiting the ability for shareholders and members to hold boards to account via online-only (and thus often highly stage-managed) […]
My thanks to Patrick Hosking at The Times for putting Nationwide’s recent “big thank you” payment under scrutiny, and for this final paragraph. Read his article in the Times: Nationwide is paying out £600m to its members. But should it be? (19 March 2025) I rather liked this final paragraph: “Sherwin-Smith is too purist about […]
Nationwide announced this week the “Big Nationwide Thank You” – a £50 one-off payment to eligible members. This is entirely separate to the recent annual (but not guaranteed, or clearly defined) Fairer Share Payment. This “thank you” payment is another example as to why members should be more engaged, and members’ perspectives better represented, at […]
My thanks to Simon English, who wrote this article in the Daily Mail (online edition: This is Money) examining the recent increase in members’ credit card interest rates. “Rampant profiteering” had to be justified – see my detailed research here into the history of credit card offers and rates in this article: Is Nationwide becoming […]
Disclaimer: Nothing herein is financial advice. Please do your own research and make your own, informed decisions when selecting a financial product or service. I was asked by Simon English, ex City Editor of The Standard (and Nationwide member) last week what I thought of Nationwide building society’s decision to increase the interest rate on […]
Following the announcement to my professional network on LinkedIn regarding next week’s oral hearing, which linked to the text provided by the FCA, one commentator asked me this: “Why do you need access to the full list (lots of personal data), rather than having Nationwide post out your election comms to the members directly?“ Question […]
The FCA have agreed I can share the following information: An oral hearing will convene on the 26 February 2025 at 11am at 12 Endeavour Square, London, E20 1JN. The hearing will be in-person only and will last approximately 90mins. This hearing is to determine an application to obtain a copy of the register of […]
Pictured: Shelia Heywood presenting a cheque on behalf of Nationwide to Buxton Mountain Rescue in 1989 As I canvass for nominations to support my own candidacy to stand for election as a Director of the Nationwide building society – I am naturally drawn to research those that have attempted this before. Finding information on the […]