Icelandic Banks - The thread for OFFSHORE savers

Moneymad_manager

We have (had ) a great deal of our life savings in Kaupthing Singer & Freidlander (IOM) I have been trawling websites, treasury pages etc... to try to find out what to do now --- It seems we have little recourse as the British Government isn't compensating 'off shore accounts' Does any one know who should we register with in order to lobby for the same compensation as the UK based investors???

occamsrazor

Moneymad manager - you'll find almost all your answers on the forum below - spend some time reading through past posts:

http://www.ksfiomdepositors.netgenius.co.uk

EdInvestor

http://www.citywire.co.uk/adviser/-/news/adviser-news/content.aspx?ID=317716


These investments, made through UK insurers, are not protected at all. 170m could be lost, possibly more.

gozomark

pigeonpie wrote: »

Response to ExpatFrance: One of the Anglo Irish bank acs (Privilege) is available only to those non resident or domiciled in the UK. They appear to have Irish govt compensation should the worst happen as this link is on their website http://www.angloirishbank.com/Media-Centre/Latest_News/Government_Decision_to_Safeguard_Irish_Banking_System.html

None of the compensation schemes are reassuring should there be a total run on a bank by all depositors. It's a confidence building measure only imho. What I have no idea is if the IoM compensation scheme (for non Irish ie all other offshore banks) IF necessary would take forever to pay out depositors - or far longer and more complex than in the UK?

No, the Irish Govt guarantee doesn't necessarily apply to the IOM - we are waiting for clarification....

Moneymad_manager

Thanks occamsrazor - have read much of the web site and have tried to register this morning without success - BUT will continue to try until registered!!!! I think I read that registration is a bit hit and miss but we have too much to loose not to keep trying.

z1000000

This is an update from the Liquidator, sorry, forgot where I got it, but it may help.

Important Customer information and updates:
15 October update
13 October update


Since I was appointed Liquidator Provisionally on 9 October 2008, my primary focus has been on trying to take control of and safeguard the assets of the company.



Communication?

I know that all depositors are very worried about the status of their deposits. The bank, the Financial Supervision Commission and my office have been swamped with telephone calls, emails, faxes and mail seeking information. This has created serious practical difficulties, and I know that many of you were not able to get through on the telephone and/or have not yet had replies to your queries. I am sorry that this was the case, however, the number of telephone calls particularly has been unprecedented. The telephone system at the bank is now up and running and a team of bank staff are answering calls between 9am and 5pm. If you are unable to get through, please bear with us and try again later. Staff are also working through the backlog of emails, faxes and letters.

Going forward, the best way to make contact is to write to the bank or to email branch@kaupthing.com. If you need to telephone the bank, please use the main switchboard number +44 1624 699222.


Assets

My main responsibility as Liquidator Provisionally is to try and assume control of the company’s assets. To this end I have:

• Taken control of bank balances totalling approximately £103,000,000 which are held with banks outside the group
• Contacted the Administrators of Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Limited (the UK bank) with the purpose of recovering the assets which are with them. I have also instructed UK lawyers to assist me if necessary
• Instructed lawyers in Iceland with a view to enforcing the parental guarantee

Potential purchasers of assets

I have received a number of enquiries from parties who have expressed an interest in purchasing parts of the business. Some have expressed an interest in the customer deposits, however, the main interest has been in the loan book. I have already met with five of these parties and will be meeting more over the course of the next few days. It is still very early days and expressions of interest are a long way from making an offer. However I am pursuing these expressions of interest as a matter of great urgency.


Transfers in transit

There are a large number of transfers which left the bank but which have not reached their intended destinations as they have been frozen in the clearing system. I am in the process of trying to determine where they are in the system in an attempt to unfreeze them. I will advise further as soon as I am able.
I understand that this situation is most distressing for depositors and I will use this website to update depositors periodically on the progress of the liquidation. However, please be patient as some matters such as commercial negotiations will necessarily have to take place in private.



Mike Simpson
Liquidator Provisionally

edwinac_2

This from the FT..

Guernsey savers fear loss of locked funds

Financial Times

By John Willman and Andrew Bounds
Published: October 17 2008 03:00 | Last updated: October 17 2008 03:00

More than 2,000 savers with accounts in the Guernsey subsidiary of a failed Icelandic bank are unlikely to recover all of their money, administrators warned yesterday.

Depositors have been offered a preliminary pay-out worth just 30 per cent. An initial survey of Landsbanki Guernsey's assets and liabilities by the administrators from accountancy firm Deloitte reported that £41m of the £121m owed to depositors and others was available for distribution.

The administrators said their ability to pay depositors in full had been hit by the subsequent collapse of Heritable Bank, a UK subsidiary of Landsbanki. Heritable held £36m of Landsbanki Guernsey assets.

Some £13m had been placed separately with Landsbanki Guernsey's parent bank in Iceland, which is now in receivership, while £52m had been lent against the security of British commercial, residential and development property.

Rick Garrard, one of the administrators, said there were good grounds to expect a significant return of cash from the commercial loans and the £36m placed with Heritable. But the uncertainty over how much could be recovered from these sources meant it would be difficult to find a buyer to take over the Guernsey bank.

He warned that in the absence of a depositor protection scheme in Guernsey, depositors would be reliant on the governments of Guernsey, the UK and Iceland to make good any shortfall, which he said "is not an obligation and cannot be assumed."

The collapse of Icelandic banks has highlighted the dangers of contagion from the global credit crunch in small financial centres such as Guernsey and the Isle of Man, where hundreds fear the loss of their savings in the local subsidiary of Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, which was put into liquidation last week.

The two islands are Crown dependencies, which are not part of the UK but independent territories with their own parliaments, judicial systems and financial regulators. The islands have 145,000 residents between them and rely on providing offshore financial services to wealthy individuals, expatriates and global businesses.

At a meeting on Monday in London the UK Treasury agreed to represent the interests of the Crown dependencies in negotiations with the Icelandic government.

Mike Simpson of PwC, the accountancy firm in charge of the liquidation of Kaupthing on the Isle of Man, is attempting to find a buyer for the business. He said if that failed, the bank could be wound up on October 24, turning depositors into creditors and triggering payouts of up to £50,000 under the island's depositor protection scheme.

Many savers have put much larger sums in the Isle of Man bank, which had about £840m in deposits.

Gary Hewitt, a businessman, said he had deposited the £500,000 proceeds from selling a company with Kaupthing. He had tried but failed to remove it last week. "In this whole financial crisis no savers have lost money but us. The Isle of Man does not have the funds for a guarantee. The UK must help," he said.

Russell Crerar of Port Soder-ick, a former travel company manager forced to retire this year at 50, put his life savings of £230,000 in the bank.

He said: "I put my money in there because the bank said it was 100 per cent safe. I wish I hadn't."

Depositors in Landsbanki Guernsey have created a website to co-ordinate their campaign for action by the Guernsey and UK authorities to recover their savings.

According to the administrators, almost half the depositors live in Guernsey and neighbouring Jersey, where there were no subsidiaries of Icelandic banks. However, a third of the deposits came from the 455 UK-based customers.

Both Channel Islands are consulting on introducing a depositor protection scheme by the end of the year.

baby_boomer

This is a tough story the sale of building society offshore subsidiaries [Cheshire & Derbyshire] to IceSave.

CityWire

"....One saver, Neil Brough, deposited £189,000 with Cheshire Guernsey, the offshore arm of the Cheshire Building Society, almost 10 years ago. Cheshire Guernsey was sold in August 2006 to Landsbanki, which has now been take over by the Icelandic government. The initial offer from Landsbanki Guernsey’s administrators would be just £56,000 for North Yorkshire-based Brough’s life savings....."

bryanb

I have difficulty understanding why UK based savers have invested in an unprotected bank in Guernsey. Is this to save tax? I thought that was no longer possible. Is there some other reason?
Please don't regard this post as a criticism, I really want to understand.

Greycrow

bryanb wrote: »

I have difficulty understanding why UK based savers have invested in an unprotected bank in Guernsey. Is this to save tax? I thought that was no longer possible. Is there some other reason?
Please don't regard this post as a criticism, I really want to understand.

That's a fair question; though I think you may have answered it yourself.