Abstract
The UK personal financial services sector has experienced major change in recent years. Once a highly fragmented market, the traditional boundaries betweeen financial institutions have now become blurred. In response to more intensive competition, advancing technology and greater consumer sophistication, financial institutions have expanded into areas once the traditional preserve of competitors. In recent years for example, building societies have broadened their activities to include unsecured loans, overdrafts, credit cards, travellers cheques and house insurance, all traditionally associated with financial institutions like banks and insurance companies. Furthermore an increasing number of societies have established or are considering the establishment of an insurance subsidiary. As shown in detail in Chapter 1, diversification opportunities for building societies were relatively limited until 1986 and the enactment of the Building Societies Act. This provided them with powers to engage in a wide range of new services essentially covering all personal financial services, investment, banking and housing. Within two years the Act was reformed, extending the powers of societies in the areas of investment and insurance services, trusteeship, executorship and land services.
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