Statement on Keydata

Statement from Norwich and Peterborough Building Society's chief executive, Matthew Bullock

Obviously we're sorry that some of our Keydata customers feel that the advice they received from the Society was not suitable, however we have always said that any customers who believe they were misadvised at the time of taking out their investment can contact the Society direct and we'll investigate their complaint fully on its individual merits.

We've said from the beginning and repeat that we will stand by our responsibilities for any of our customers who were misadvised and have suffered a loss as a result. The Board of N&P have fully and regularly assessed the potential impact of the Keydata situation and, to the extent that the Society has any financial exposure to any customer in respect of Keydata products, the Society is financially strong enough to absorb it.

We received 190 complaints from Regulatory Legal late on Wednesday, and they will be investigated fully and carefully as part of our standard complaints procedure in the same way as would any complaints sent to us by customers directly. As we have said before, if customers complain directly to us this is free of charge.

The Society is very alert to the need to find a satisfactory outcome for its Keydata customers. The Society is actively and productively engaged in discussions with a number of relevant parties (including members of the regulatory community) with a view to seeking a resolution to the Keydata situation. We can't do this alone, our customers are the minority of Keydata investors (some 3,100 out of more than 20,000) so it requires co-operation and contribution from others, but we hope that the proposals being looked at will address the current uncertainty that our Keydata customers face.

We'd like to thank all our customers - the 1% who invested in Keydata and the 99% who didn't - for their patience and understanding during what, we understand fully, has been a frustrating and uncertain time for them. We will, of course, continue to keep our customers updated on any further developments when we are able to do so.

September 2010

BBC Radio 4's Money Box: Saturday 18 September at 1204 BST and Sunday 19 September at 2102 BST.