Slater Walker

Slater Walker was a British bank specialising in corporate raids that got into financial difficulties in the 1970s. It shook the British banking system at the time and had to be bailed out by the Bank of England after it was unable to refinance its debt during the secondary banking crisis of 1973-74. After the bail its founder Jim Slater was forced to quit.

History

The company was founded by Jim Slater and Peter Walker, a Tory MP, in 1964 as an authorised bank. It went on to perform what became known as corporate raids on public companies.[1]

At its peak the company held deposits totalling £95m, managed £250m of funds and looked after 29,000 pensions.[2] It had grown to be not only a bank but also an investment and insurance empire with stakes in industrial companies. It had acquired dutch investment bank Kempen & Co in 1972 which became it international division.

Collapse

It got into financial difficulty after having trouble refinance its debt during the secondary banking crisis of 1973–75. By 1975 the problems with Slater Walker led to support by the Bank of England.[3] Following the takeover of Slater Walker by the Bank of England, 15 charges were brought against Slater for offences against the Companies Act by the Department of Trade, the misuse of more than £4 million of company funds in share deals. The case was thrown out in 1977.

After Jim Slater was forced to quit he was replaced by Jimmy Goldsmith which caused consternation in the UK government, where the new boss was regarded with as much suspicion as the old. ‘I am surprised to see Mr Goldsmith appointed chief executive,’ wrote one civil servant. ‘He is hardly a noted banking figure and indeed, his reputation, as far as the general public is concerned, is that of a playboy and speculator.’[1]

The business was subsequently renamed Britannia Arrow.[4] After the purchase of INVESCO and Montagu Investment Management, the company was renamed INVESCO MIM in 1990. (The MIM was later dropped). After a merger with AIM Investments, the company was renamed Amvescap.[5]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "‘Read this and weep’: lessons not learned from Slater Walker". The Spectator. February 10, 2010.
  2. ↑ How Harold Wilson stepped in over Slater Walker debacle
  3. ↑ The provision of financial assistance to Slater Walker Bank in 1975
  4. ↑ "Slater Walker now Britannia". The Glasgow Herald. 1977-07-08. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
  5. ↑ Chernoff, Joel (1994-07-25). "INVESCO'S U.K. BUSINESS HIT HARD". Pensions & Investments. Retrieved 2014-10-08.