Slater Walker
Slater Walker was a British industrial conglomerate turned
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 corporate raids on public, mainly industrial companies.[1]
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.[citation needed]
At its peak, capitalized at over £200 million, the company held deposits totalling £95m, managed £250m of funds and looked after 29,000 pensions.
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.[4]
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
Following the takeover of the company by the Bank of England in 1976, James Goldsmith replaced Slater which caused consternation in the UK government, where the new boss was regarded with as much suspicion as the old:[1]
'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'.
15 charges were brought against Slater for offences against the
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.[8] Jim Slater became for a time a "minus millionaire" while Peter Walker's political career survived.[6]
Present
The business was subsequently renamed Britannia Arrow.[9] 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.[10] In 2007, the company reverted to the Invesco name.[11]
References
- ^ a b "'Read this and weep': lessons not learned from Slater Walker". The Spectator. February 10, 2010.
- ^ "The Times & The Sunday Times". www.thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
- ^ "Untitled". The Straits Times. Singapore. 11 June 1971. Retrieved 7 October 2017 – via Singapore National Library.
- ^ The provision of financial assistance to Slater Walker Bank in 1975 Archived 2007-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Alex Hendry (17 June 1978). "Slater man to face trial abroad". Daily Express. No. 24, 248. p. 3.
- ^ a b "Obituary: Lord Walker of Worcester". The Telegraph. 23 June 2020.
- ^ "FOI disclosure: Slater Walker 230905". 2007-06-11. Archived from the original on 2007-06-11. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
- ^ "Lucky Jim: business profile of Jim Slater". Telegraph. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
- ^ "Slater Walker now Britannia". The Glasgow Herald. 1977-07-08. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
- ^ Chernoff, Joel (1994-07-25). "Invesco's u.k. business hit hard". Pensions & Investments. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
- ^ Coleman, Murray (May 24, 2007). "Amvescap officially switches name to Invesco". marketwatch.com. Retrieved 28 December 2023.