“Stupid, cretinous, inward-facing staff” says notoriously foul-mouthed M&A adviser as he uses contacts to tear in to British financial institution and intimidate employees

Foul language and insults are most certainly not off the agenda for mergers and acquisitions adviser to the financial sector Nicky Samengo-Turner of Hundon, a small town in Suffolk, East Anglia.

Those within the upper echelons of Britain’s financial services sector know that it is widely renowned for the corporate lifestyle that it provides its senior executives, which is not limited to very high bonuses but also includes a culture of fine dining with clients and private functions at high quality venues, but appears to include an element of forcefulness and boorish behavior toward those who work in less senior positions in rival companies by leveraging the influence of high powered contacts.

The ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’ mentality is perhaps more prevalent in London than any other global financial center, and an aversion toward competition is most certainly alive and well, as demonstrated by the cause behind the Financial Conduct Authority’s action against Plus500 in May last year, which was instigated by a competitor, rather than genuine regulatory concern.

The old boy network is most certainly a mainstay in the City, among which Mr. Samengo-Turner who specializes in mergers and acquisitions within the financial services and hedge fund sector, is clearly well connected and not afraid to use to unleash his vitriol.

This week, it is British retail bank and lender Nationwide Building Society (LON:CEBB), or rather customer service staff at Nationwide and the corporate policy which they adhere to, that have been on the receiving end of the wrath of the influential.

Bullying and rudeness the subject of a damning letter to Nationwide CEO Graham Beale

Mr. Samengo-Turner, according to reports this morning in London, has been using his contacts to apply bullying tactics toward staff and procedure at Nationwide, terming them “stupid, cretinous and inward facing staff.”

Whether this assessment is right or wrong is one thing and a matter of opinion, but to throw one’s weight around at senior level is most certainly a moot point.

Mr. Samengo-Turner’s feud with Nationwide began when he, despite having no money in his Nationwide bank account, nor any debt at all of any kind, discovered that Nationwide’s security system paid over £500 to car rental firm Avis, leaving him with a £500 overdraft that he neither asked for, and did not have a facility to use.

Clearly enraged by this, Mr. Samengo-Turner wrote directly to Nationwide’s CEO Graham Beale with a tirade of insults toward his staff.

“I write to you personally to give you first hand insight into the inefficient, incommunicative shambles, staffed by some of the most incompetent, ill-educated people that I have ever had the misfortune to encounter in over 30 years in the City.”

The complaint was taken very seriously and is now in the hands of the Financial Ombudsman, however it is not a public matter and therefore the current status is a private matter whilst being investigated.

It is worthy of note that, unlike in North America where the regulatory authorities will publicly announce every investigation and action against financial services or electronic trading entities and take legal action which often results in litigation, prosecution and restitution, Britain’s passive FCA and Ombudsman services are government quangos with no real intention of even conducting investigations.

Usually they send a letter to a company stating that someone has complained, and that they will close the file with not even so much as an inspection of a fine is paid with a 30% discount. Between 2010 and 2014, 97% of complaints to the FCA across the entire financial sector were settled in this manner without so much as an inspection, let alone a court case or investigation into corporate practice.

Bearing this in mind it could be insinuated that this relatively small error is being taken very seriously due to the relationships that the ‘victim’ has at the top, and the vitriolic letter that was sent as a result.

Charming

Mr. Samengo-Turner openly admitted to one particular mainstream British news source that he regularly goes in to a branch of Santander that is local to his home because ‘terrorizing staff is one of his favorite pastimes’ and that he likes to visit the branch to take a look at the “creatures” employed there.

No stranger to controversy, Mr. Samengo-Turner was apprehended by police in late 2004 for carrying a baton and a Victorinox Swiss knife in his car.

Whilst this is not a matter for police to be concerned about generally, as neither items are illegal in Britain, the police were unusually heavy-handed with Mr. Samengo-Turner upon his apprehension, which is also not a trait normally associated with the inert provincial British police.

In a similar fashion to the handling of his grievance with Nationwide, Mr. Samengo-Turner took to the mainstream news, and actually wrote a column in the Telegraph – not very many people can do that unless they have contacts at the very top – calling the Police Community Support Officers “David Blunkett’s new militia” and stating that they became hostile toward him, saying “You’ve committed an offence, mate, and you’d better get used to the fact that you’re going down for six months.”

Cursing at the police leads to arrest, followed by re-arrest, followed by contretemps with lawyer

The real reason why the police became hostile was due to Mr. Samengo-Turner’s foul-mouthed tirade which he unleashed upon them.

He began by asking them if they had nothing better to do and that they should be concentrating on “men of Arab extraction” for which he was warned but continued by shouting “Having problems with your new toy?” when presented with a fingerprint scanner. Mr. Samengo-Turner then alleged that the police employee replied “Shut the f*** up, you a***hole” and was arrested and brought to the local police station.

Mr. Samengo-Turner admitted in his own publication that he then ‘snapped’ and unleashed a tirade on police staff, called a police officer “a prize wanker” and was re-arrested and detained overnight.

Mr. Samengo-Turner then asked his lawyer to put this down as an assault because a police officer allegedly grabbed his lapels, and that the lawyer would be taking action, so they let him go.

Small errors such as minor errors by banks which can be easily resolved, or innocuous, random checks by police are commonplace in everyday life, and usually of no consequence to anybody unless the person concerned actually enjoys conflict with what he may see as lesser mortals, as admitted by stately-home-dwelling Mr. Samengo-Turner in both of these cases.

Mind how you go, as they say…..