Irish Banks Deposit Guarantee

mikerux

I thought that the irish government had guaranteed to cover deposits up to £80,000 up to sept 2010-in Bank of Ireland and Anglo Irish bank etc-now i see that the banks have yet to sign up to the guarantee.Whats going on are the deposits covered by the guarantee now or not?

gozomark

100% not £80,000

mikerux

thanks gozomzrk-but are they guaranteed yet?

gozomark

parent banks yes, subsidiaries apparently so, but waiting for final confirmation

dunstonh

They are guaranteed on paper but there is a lot of doubt if they would be guaranteed in real life.

mikerux

what are your feelings about them

mikerux

What are your feelings about the stability of the Irish banks

Saucepot

The Irish promise is not worth the paper it’s written on. Ireland has no capacity to guarantee any sterling deposits. They can only buy sterling on the market, and have no control over the currency. They cannot print sterling only buy it.

Any guarantee can be made but will only come to pass in the doomsday scenario. And in the doomsday scenario when they have to pay up they will do what all governments do, put there own depositors and voters before foreigners who ultimate will have to go whistle.

With Iceland, who guaranteed the deposits? Iceland did. What value was that? Zip. Who ultimately guaranteed it? Gordon. If you expect Gordon to pay up indefinitely for money held in foreign accounts you are mistaken. If it’s about confidence, Gordon can guarantee what he wants, come doomsday you will find confidence cannot be restored no matter what and Gordon will consider deposits held abroad the least of his worries.

It all depends on whether you trust the stability of the banks. If you do, then go ahead, but never expect as a foreigner to be on equal footing with a local, whether putting money in a bank, setting up a business or buying a property. You are a foreigner and you come second. Here in the UK you are a local and a voter.

If you think the doomsday scenario is likely, then your best bet is a UK bank. Gordon has so far ensured no UK depositor has lost a penny, regardless of the sums, as every shaky bank is nationalised. That so far is a real guarantee with no upper limit.

cvd

There is a newspaper comment here about the Irish guarantee:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/columnists/article.html?in_article_id=455271&in_page_id=19&in_author_id=3

thrupence

Saucepot wrote: »

Ireland has no capacity to guarantee any sterling deposits. They can only buy sterling on the market, and have no control over the currency. They cannot print sterling only buy it.

This is a Bank of Ireland sterling note:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bank_of_Ireland_sterling_5_.jpg

This is an Allied Irish Bank sterling note:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:FirstTrust100.jpg

Spookie, eh.....:eek:

gozomark

remember if its a branch of an Irish Bank in the UK then your first guarantee is from the UK, the Irish guarantee is a top up, so that makes them better than a UK bank