A Co Antrim member of the Bradford & Bingley, whose resolution to convert the building society to a bank was adopted last week, has declared that his carpet-bagging days are over.
Carpet-bagger is the term applied to a person who joins building societies in the expectation of getting a windfall pay-out when the society demutualises.
Mr Stephen Major, who works as a plumber in Lisburn, told The Irish Times he would be framing his share certificate rather than cashing in his shares, which would be worth about £1,000 sterling.
He initiated the action, he said, "to prove it could be done", and travelled to the annual general meeting of the Yorkshire-based society to see the results of the vote. His travel expenses, in fact, outweighed any gain he would have made.
"I never really did it for the money, it was just more or less an achievement," he said.
Mr Major was unrepentant about his action, which provoked an unsuccessful countermove by the Bradford & Bingley management to launch a £5 million sterling advertising campaign in favour of building society status.
Meanwhile, the Building Societies Association (BSA) said it was disappointed that Bradford & Bingley's members had succumbed to "the lure of a fast buck". Last week's poll was decisive, with 62 per cent of voters coming out in favour of changing the society's 150-year-old status. Mr Major said many pensioners had been in favour of the move because of the financial benefit they will receive. "A lot of people will be very happy," he said.
However, he added that, in the long term, retaining his shares for an annual dividend could make more sense than cashing them in.
With over three million members, the society has a market value of about £2.5 billion sterling (€3.79 billion). It is expected that the de-mutualising process will take about a year to complete. AIB and Bank of Ireland are thought to be among the banks interested in taking over Bradford & Bingley, which has 1,000 outlets and a customer base of four million in Britiain. It has about £22 billion under management.
