FSA Website Announcement on Icesave

cwcw · 8 October 2008 at 5:07PM

Icesave – statement to customers

The UK branch of Icelandic bank, Landsbanki, which includes Icesave, has been declared in default in the UK.

So in the interests of consumer protection, we have triggered the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) to safeguard retail customer savings held in Icesave.

In addition, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has put in place arrangements to ensure that no retail depositor will lose any money as a result of the closure of Icesave.

The FSCS will provide further information for customers shortly, to set out what will happen next and how they can make a claim.
Icesave also intends to provide more information to customers as soon as possible.

Is my money with Icesave safe?
Yes. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has put in place arrangements to ensure that no retail depositor will lose any money as a result of the closure of Icesave.
Will I get all of it back or just the first £50,000?
No retail depositor will lose any money as a result of the closure of Icesave.
When will I get it back?
As quickly as possible. HM Treasury, the FSA and FSCS are working closely together on the practical arrangements for paying back customers and the FSCS website will be updated with further information on Friday.

Disclaimer
News articles on this website are accurate, to the best of our knowledge, only at the date of publication. If the information they contain changes, follow-up articles may be published.

http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/news/firm/icesave.html

Seems pretty clear now. We will be making claims, and soon. Forget anything that comes out of Iceland and their silly PM.

marklee · 8 October 2008 at 5:08PM

Looks like Icesave have already sacked the people who know how to do web design...

TuftyMatt · 8 October 2008 at 5:10PM

No interest as of today then?

6022tivo · 8 October 2008 at 5:11PM

I did read the threads yesterday and felt for the people who had more than 50k in.

But I do think the figure max the savers should get back is 50k..

Anyone who had a punt (Greedy's) and put more than the covered 50k in, should IMO get the max 50K back....

I don't see why we are bailing out savers of a foreign bank...

Is this just me?

mjmal51 · 8 October 2008 at 5:12PM

At the end of the day perhaps we are lucky that Iceland is in default as this is what triggered the 100% guarantee from the British government,if Iceland had paid out £16,000 then looks as though people would only have got back a max of £50,000. Well done Darling!

Jim_B_3 · 8 October 2008 at 5:27PM

6022tivo wrote: »

I don't see why we are bailing out savers of a foreign bank...

If I had to guess, I'd say that the powers that be are well aware of the consequences of a loss of faith by the general public in the banking system. That is, all banks cease trading and we enter financial Armageddon. Imagine it; no more imports because there are no UK banks to pay the people overseas. If we wanted to import food we'd have to queue on the dock and when the food arrived hand over whatever items of value we had. Likewise for fuel, meaning within a couple of weeks we're all out of transport. If you can't walk to work and back in a day, it's not happening.

Everyone's wages paid in hard cash - the inefficiency would be devastating. The more I think about it, the more it becomes clear that if the banks cease to work, precipitated by a wholesale loss of faith in the banking system by the public, the UK rapidly falls back to the stone age.

So, given that the government have "faith in the banks" as a pretty serious priority, when a bank fails they must decide if the cost of stepping in is less than the cost of the public having a little less faith in the system. On the one hand, Icesave was the UK subsidiary of a foreign bank; on the other hand, it was a real bank in a first-world country. To me, today's announcements sound like Brown and chums have decided it's go for broke time.

Reaper · 8 October 2008 at 5:28PM

I can't believe this thread is going to fall off the front page. It's the most important thing that's happened recently because it means the compensation scheme can now kick in. Just wait for another 3 threads to start on the subject when other people notice.

So I'm posting to tell you... um... I've updated the FAQ with this info. And um... it's Wednesday today.

ChloeRadshaw · 8 October 2008 at 5:30PM

Should nt we try to get this guy on telly and see what he was playing at - 2 days ago he said Icesave was safe and sound

Now we know that is simply not true!

Cant we get him to explain why he lied?

I d also like to know his career history -

Does anyone know his name / address?

GeorgeHowell · 8 October 2008 at 5:31PM

6022tivo wrote: »

I did read the threads yesterday and felt for the people who had more than 50k in.

But I do think the figure max the savers should get back is 50k..

Anyone who had a punt (Greedy's) and put more than the covered 50k in, should IMO get the max 50K back....

I don't see why we are bailing out savers of a foreign bank...

Is this just me?

No it isn't, I agree with you, especially as people were warned by the FSA. But I suspect that Brown and Darling can't live with the political fallout if they let some larger savers lose out. Once again the English taxpayer has to stump up in order to help New Labour cling to office.

br1anstorm · 8 October 2008 at 5:32PM

6022tivo wrote: »

I did read the threads yesterday and felt for the people who had more than 50k in.

But I do think the figure max the savers should get back is 50k..

Anyone who had a punt (Greedy's) and put more than the covered 50k in, should IMO get the max 50K back....

I don't see why we are bailing out savers of a foreign bank...

Is this just me?

Darling had to provide full cover. First on grounds of fairness/level playing field: as Darling himself said today, he has already done so over the Northern Rock and B&B depositors. And second because the crucial and overriding need now is to sustain savers' confidence in the banks. People have to accept the risk that share values will go up and down. But if people cease to have faith in the banks as a secure place to deposit savings, the whole financial edifice will collapse, irrespective of any other 'rescue' measures. Jim B's post at #6 above underlines the point.

Or as another poster (eezageeza) commented rhetorically in a separate thread,

"So, if the UK government allowed Icesave depositors to lose their money, the lesson to learn would be that the FSA/UK government is utterly useless and one cannot trust any companies regulated by them and allowed to trade in the UK, not to mention companies with headquarters in foreign countries. Therefore we shouldn't invest in any of those banks (which would include HSBC) or buy shares in any of those companies, and put our money in a jar under the bed instead. Can you imagine what the knock-on effect would be to the country's economy? This is about investor confidence. Get with the wider picture! "[unquote]

br1anstorm

nikell · 8 October 2008 at 6:35PM

This is a really important pice of information, this means the wheels are at least in motion for compensation claims.

FSA Website Announcement on Icesave

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