STEALING YOUR MONEY: THE GREAT BUILDING SOCIETY ROBBERY

In recent days bondholders at the Britannia Building Society owned by the Co-operative Bank have received a very nasty shock. The outfit they put their money into wasn’t worth a plugged nickel. It was bust even when the bank took it over, something the bank already knew, stuffed with sub-prime mortgage liabilities hanging over it from the American sub-prime fiasco, but it still didn’t stop them taking people’s saving and handing out bond certificates. The latter, as anyone with any sense in their head knows, is a posh looking piece of paper with words and numbers on it. Savings, as anyone with any sense in their head knows, are banknotes that you’ve worked hard for. Physical cash, legal coin of the realm that you’ve worked hard for and handed over for the single posh piece of paper. And to put it into its real nasty perspective, that money you had before you handed it over was legally yours, but the second you handed it over to the Britannia Building Society or any Building Society for that matter, and put your signature on the form for a bond, that money became legally theirs. It wasn’t your money anymore to do what you liked with. It was theirs. They were now the legal owners of your cash.

And if you didn’t know that already you’d better know now! That’s because in the case of the Britannia Building Society and the Co-operative Bank that owns it, they’re going to do things with the money you gave them to literally fuck you over. That is, take away part of it for keeps. Well it is legally theirs now, not yours and they can do what they like don’t you know? Now anyone who says this is theft would be wrong. It might look like theft, it might smell like theft and it might even taste like theft, but legally it isn’t, and there’s the joke really, because according to the financial rules and regulations governing institutions within the financial services sector what they choose to do with what you thought was your money has the whole weight of the law behind it so there, they’re just doing things with it in their best interests. And yours? Well that’s another thing altogether!

All this is particularly important right now because of the dirty big hole that opened up right at the heart of the Cooperative Bank the minute they bought the junk status Britannia. It caused the collapse of their intentions to buy a large chunk of Lloyds Bank branches basically because with the weight of the junk building society round their necks they quite simply didn’t have a pot to piss in. If they’d bought part of Lloyds they’d instantly drown, not buying Lloyds they were still in the shit, in a financial black hole as they say in the City, and still had to get out. In short they had to get the money from somewhere and the somewhere was you, the bondholders.

The only thing that needed doing was cooking up some kind of package. With excellent financial advice coming from the smart city boys, accountants, economic advisers and all, you know, people who know how to get hold of money, they didn’t need to look far. In fact no further than Cyprus. Easy peasie, just trim off people’s deposits. In this case the combined value of all their Britannia Building Society Bonds. First stage, the Cooperative Bank takes over the bonds. Second stage, converts itself into a bank with a stock market listing . Third stage, issues shares to the former bondholders for part of the value of what their bond used to be worth. In the case of the Britannia conversion just two-thirds the value. So, you lucky bondholders, at the stroke of a pen you’ve been fleeced of 33% of your dosh!

Now if I were a jack-the-lad in the City I’d call it real juicy!

And while you’re shaking with fury and rage Britannia bondholders, you might think that help is at hand. Fear not, the Liberal Democrats, those tireless campaigners against bankers bonuses and every kind of financial impropriety under the sun are already riding to the rescue. That the good Nick Clegg and the honorable Vince Cable know your pain. Know your suffering.  Are already figuring out ways they can help! They won’t have this sort of thing happen. They’re already planning some kind of action! They’ll talk to the Chancellor if necessary so don’t be dismayed. Yes, and you’re bound to hear words from Ed Miliband and his friend, that bold champion of all savers Ed Balls. They’ll have none of it either.

And with such fantasies running round your head maybe it’ll help you sleep easier but then maybe it won’t. To hope of anything decent or honorable from the Liberal Democrats is a delusion, plain and simple. These people genuinely can’t help themselves. Either make promises they know they can’t keep or else do what’s best and stay silent and in the case of the Britannia bondholders swindle so far not even a peep or a bit of cheap mouth. As for what used to be Labour, are you just mad? Labour helping bondholders and savers! I mean even the thought’s got to be some kind of joke. Don’t forget, this is the Party that started it all. Think Labour and you’ve got a Government that facilitated tax evasion, Inland Revenue impropriety, Libor rate swindling, money laundering banks, gigantic bankers bonuses for failure while at the same time hateful financial constraint imposed on disabled people, the sick and the poor, with Ed Miliband part of it all. You’ll never hear a word from this gang about the way you’ve been had because these were the rascals who started it all. It’s a bit like asking Jack Straw and his Iranian Ayatollah friends for a loaf of Jewish rye bread!

No, bondholders, you’re out on your own with no-one to help and remember the disease is contagious. Like some kind of financial Black Death. Yesterday Cyprus, today the UK! Soon the bells will be ringing and the savers start coughing it up for the finance executives. Who was it who said, ‘my word is my bond!’ Well how much is the word of any of these people worth these days, especially when they know that the institution they work for is the actual owner of money deposited by investors and savers? Well actually it’s worth nothing. Some of them are probably already working out what bonuses they’ll get for legally fleecing their depositors. What an absolutely brilliant way of making money and it’s all legal. Just invest some excuse why we need all their money right now and give them green shield stamps for the value or promise to pay it back to their great grandchildren in a hundred years’ time, say in some nice bits of paper.

Stealing? Who called it stealing? How dare you say such dirty words!

 

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