Slater Walker was a British industrial conglomerate turned

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

that got into financial difficulties in the 1970s. It specialised in

corporate raid In business, a corporate raid is the process of buying a large stake in a corporation and then using shareholder voting rights to require the company to undertake novel measures designed to increase the share value, generally in opposition to t ...

s. Its fall shook the British banking system at the time, and it had to be bailed out by the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

after it was unable to refinance its debt during the secondary banking crisis of 1973–75, forcing its founder Jim Slater to quit.

History

In 1964, investor Jim Slater acquired control of H. Lotery & Co Ltd, a £1.5m public company, which with his business partner Peter Walker - a Conservative MP - they renamed Slater, Walker Securities. The company performed what became known as

s on public, mainly industrial companies. Slater Walker then changed strategy, from a corporate-conglomerate into what eventually was recognised as an unauthorised and unlicensed international investment bank, through gradual disposal of its industrial interests. At its peak, capitalized at over £200 million, the company held deposits totalling £95m, managed £250m of funds and looked after 29,000 pensions. It had grown to be not only a bank but also an investment and insurance empire with stakes in industrial companies. Singapore conglomerate Haw Par Brothers International was acquired in 1971.

Collapse

In 1974, it got into financial difficulty after having trouble refinancing its debt during the secondary banking crisis of 1973–75. By 1975, the problems led to its having to be supported by the Bank of England. In 1975, the Singapore Government investigated what became known as the Spydar affair, into dealings in a Far East Slater Walker company which resulted in Richard Tarling, the company's sole director, ending up in

Changi prison Changi Prison Complex, often known simply as Changi Prison, is a prison complex in the namesake district of Changi in the eastern part of Singapore. It is the oldest and largest prison in the country, covering an area of about . Opened in 193 ...

after extradition in 1978. Slater subsequently resigned as Chairman in October 1975, because the Singapore Government began to try to extradite him from the UK for alleged offences by the company in Singapore. In addition, an ill-timed attempt to take over Hill Samuel resulted in the loss of city confidence in Slater Walker. Following the takeover of the company by the Bank of England in 1976,

James Goldsmith Sir James Michael Goldsmith (26 February 1933 – 18 July 1997) was a French-British financier and politician who was a member of the Goldsmith family. His controversial business and finance career led to ongoing clashes with British media, fr ...

replaced Slater which caused consternation in the UK government, where the new boss was regarded with as much suspicion as the old: 15 charges were brought against Slater for offences against the

Companies Act Companies Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Botswana, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom in relation to company law. The Bill for an Act with this short title w ...

by the

Department of Trade Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

, referring to the alleged misuse of more than £4 million of company funds in share deals. The case, brought by HM Treasury and the Singapore Government, was thrown out in 1977. In 1979, Slater was charged and convicted on 15 counts under Section 54 of the Companies Act 1948; all related to loans made to affiliated companies for buying stock in the Slater Walker group. He was fined £15 on each charge. Jim Slater became for a time a "minus millionaire" while Peter Walker's political career survived.

Present

The business was subsequently renamed Britannia Arrow. 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. In 2007, the company reverted to the Invesco name.

References

{{reflist Defunct banks of the United Kingdom Financial services companies established in 1964 1975 in the United Kingdom Financial services companies disestablished in 1975