What now for savers?
AMIDST all the turmoil, two questions burn in the minds of PMS savers: How much of our money will we get back, and when?
Twelve months on, there are still no firm answers. Hopes are pinned on the ability of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's PMS ministerial working group to persuade one of several interested commercial banks to provide a rescue package, as happened with the troubled Dunfermline Building Society.
If this is possible, PMS members could hope to see a quicker return of funds than would happen through an orderly wind down of the PMS under insolvency procedures.
Based on the administrators report in June, the 315m mutual still has around 196m of good assets. On paper this suggests that without any formal rescue package, savers might expect to get back around 62p back for every pound they put in.
But in practice, realising the cash for all the loans made and commercial property owned in the current recession is fraught with difficulty.
A spokesperson for the PMS administrator said his next six-monthly report covering would be sent to members in mid-December. There are hopes from some sources that something may happen before then by way of intervention from the government and/or a bank.
But others are much more cautious, reluctant to put any date on possible developments, and only putting the chances of a successful rescue package at 50:50.
However smaller PMS savers face further problems. Under the PMS rules those who saved less than 20,000 (shareholders) were treated equally to those who saved over 20,000 (loanholders). But under insolvency law now in effect, the larger savers would be repaid as a higher priority, which could leave the smaller savers with a very poor return.
As voting on this matter is weighted by pounds saved, those with less than 20,000 are increasingly concerned that larger savers may vote to maintain their position of preference. Trustees of funds, for example, would be legally obliged to vote for their priority treatment to ensure a maximum return.
The protection of such smaller savers has been a key point made to the Government working group in the campaign for Government help.
The Treasury has argued that potential obstacles include EU rules on state aid and setting a dangerous precedent with "investors". However Finance Minister Sammy Wilson repeated his line yesterday that despite the complex issues, he is "confident that a satisfactory conclusion can be achieved".
Enterprise minister Arlene Foster says she believes that Gordon Brown has recognised "a moral obligation" to help the PMS. "After all, the Government's rescue of other financial institutions – the so-called 'bank bailout' - actually helped lead to the problems in the PMS," she says.
First Minister Peter Robinson has been to the forefront of efforts to resolve this issue, and the Government in London and the Presbyterian Church are also working very hard for a solution, she insists.
For their part, the Tories claim they would be more likely to help - should they take power - but make no promises.
The savers themselves have not been idle. Some of the most prominent have been Ian McGimpsey and Isobel Whyte, who are still coordinating the writing of thousands of letters to politicians both here and in Westminster. Only time will tell how effective they have been.
See Morning View, page 14
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Tuesday 29 May 2012
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