Building Societies (Funding) and Mutual Societies (Transfers) Bill

Is that correct? I ask with great respect, as my hon. Friend is a much greater expert in this matter than I am. To go back to the example of the Abbey National, it was originally a mutual society, then its members chose to demutualise and benefited from that, and then in due course that company was taken over by Banco Santander. That had become a shareholder issue, and the shareholders in the company then became shareholders in the Spanish company. In the case of a mutual that is taken over by another mutual, that organisation does not lose its mutual status and its members want to be assured that they will still be members of an organisation that has value and that at some stage in the future they will be able to benefit from that. Therefore, I am unsure whether the issue of a mutual being taken over by a foreign mutual is the same as that of a mutual that becomes a company in this country as a result of a resolution passed by the members. Perhaps the Minister will be able to give some clarification on that when she responds to these points. The Northern Rock example involves a building society that gave up its mutuality before losing much of its reputation—or perhaps I should say, its head. Many of the erstwhile mutual members of Northern Rock received shares in lieu of their mutual interest and are now, arguably, far worse off than if it had never given up its mutuality. However, at least the Northern Rock scenario is under the control of a British regulator and the rules made by this sovereign Parliament. That would not be the case if Northern Rock had been taken over when it was mutual by another mutual somewhere else in the European economic area. That is the distinction to which we need to draw attention.