Building Societies in the Financial Services Industry

"In the interests of effective competition and systemic stability, there is a public policy interest in supporting diversity in ownership structures and business models in the financial services industry. This timely book offers an admirable and well-analysed redress to the dominance in the finance literature of the shareholder value model in finance by analysing in a coherent way the role of mutual building societies in the economy. The authors are eminently qualified analysts who offer an excellent and clear analysis of the role of building societies in the context of on-going structural change in the British financial system." (David T Llewellyn, Professor of Money & Banking, Loughborough University) "Thriving markets and ecosystems share characteristics of strong competition and great diversity. The banking sector is no different. This study helps deepen our understanding of how the building societies responded to the 2008 financial crisis, and why they are a vital part of the UK's broader banking sector in the 21st century." (Robin Fieth, Chief Executive, Building Societies Association)

This book presents an analysis of the role of UK building societies, their strengths and weaknesses, and their contribution to the industry, at a time where public confidence in banking is low.

This book presents an analysis of the role of UK building societies, their strengths and weaknesses, and their contribution to the industry, at a time where public confidence in banking is low. Chapters present the results of an empirical analysis of the comparative performance of UK building societies, since the large-scale demutualisation process ended in the year 2000. The authors highlight the substantial impact of the financial crisis on the sector, with 2008 and 2009 being particularly difficult years.  The book discusses banks and building societies in the context of the improving economy and show that both groups have recovered some profitability, although not at the pre-crisis level. The reader will discover that building societies in particular have recovered well from the financial turmoil and they appear less risky than banks on a variety of measures.