7.5% 1 yr fixed interest deposit

eeja

Interested ? Its on offer at the largest and safest bank in the United Arab Emirates but you have to fly to Dubai in person to open the account.
All deposits guaranteed by the UAE government .
Offer expires 28 November .
nb Minimum deposit countervalue of UAE Dirham 1M . If deposit between half and one million dirham you get 7.0%
Can any bank in the UK beat that ?

Lorian

Do they pay for the tickets?

isofa

Funding the oppression of women and all their other highly dubious laws.

Would you really invest in a country that thinks it's ok to stone people to death?

I'd say any bank in the UK can beat that, because in the UK we have freedom, and that's worth many lower percentage points on savings rates IMO.

swagman

Well said isofa.
We complain about 'dubious' tactics in the financial world, such as the crazy loans which paid their part in the present difficulties; so too, on a different level, we should consider ethical issues in weighing up investments.

mroller

isofa wrote: »

Funding the oppression of women and all their other highly dubious laws.

Would you really invest in a country that thinks it's ok to stone people to death?

I'd say any bank in the UK can beat that, because in the UK we have freedom, and that's worth many lower percentage points on savings rates IMO.

you might be confusing the UAE with some other country. This stuff doesn't happen in the UAE, Although, I agree, it's not a democracy.

Jonbvn

isofa wrote: »

Funding the oppression of women and all their other highly dubious laws.

Would you really invest in a country that thinks it's ok to stone people to death?

I'd say any bank in the UK can beat that, because in the UK we have freedom, and that's worth many lower percentage points on savings rates IMO.

isofa, I think you may have overstated the case. Are you sure they stone people to death in the UAE?

What about Barclays in SA during apartheid? Or maybe HSBC is too close to the oppressive Chinese gov't?

BTW, if they pay flights (Biz Class) and a week in the Burj Al Arab I'm in!

eeja

@isofa

For the avoidance of any misunderstanding this is a British pound fixed deposit and all pounds are held in London , just as all dollars are held in New York and all yen in Tokyo . These pounds will be used in the UK, possibly loaned out to British Co's and banks ( Barclays ? ) to help end the current recession.
Since you raise the issue of politics you should know that all the Gulf States were under British control until the 1960's and their rulers appointed by the British (including I might add the King of Jordan) . They were firm allies of the British during WW1 and after. you might know this, if you have heard of Lawrence of Arabia or seen the film.
A final point..only last week Gordon Brown was in the Gulf seeking loans and assistance from Saudi and the Gulf states, so any pounds you deposit might well end up in your local bank available for loan to some poor English pensioner . !!

gunnaknow

Isofa, I think that you might be confusing United Arab Emirates with Saudi Arabia. I think it's the Saudis that mistreat women to the degrees that you mention.

isofa

Jonbvn wrote: »

isofa, I think you may have overstated the case. Are you sure they stone people to death in the UAE?

What about Barclays in SA during apartheid? Or maybe HSBC is too close to the oppressive Chinese gov't?

BTW, if they pay flights (Biz Class) and a week in the Burj Al Arab I'm in!

It's very well reported, just one such link from Amnesty: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE25/006/2006 luckily this chap was let off, or this vile case of a teenage girl sentenced to a flogging: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE25/002/2007/en

UAE and the gulf states have extremely unpleasant laws - best referred to many a good investigate report in Private Eye's passim.

I could list almost limitless links, this is a more recent UAE scandal: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080616/us-businessman-videos-show-torture-by-uae-royal.htm

True regarding Barclays, I'd not invest with them either! Equally, I'm not a customer of HSBC!

If you do take the trip, makes sure you don't take any painkillers with you,nor use medicines before you travel, otherwise they'll jail you: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article3333905.ece

In fact last year I believe some western tourists were held and imprisioned due to this, although I can't track down the Private Eye article.

(Although goodness knows why anyone would want to visit such a soulless manufactured place, but there is no accounting for taste - however I'm taking this thread off-topic apologies - just sometimes rate chasing isn't as important as fundamental issues.)

gunnaknow wrote: »

Isofa, I think that you might be confusing United Arab Emirates with Saudi Arabia. I think it's the Saudis that mistreat women to the degrees that you mention.

As per before I suggest you read many a good investigative report on it.

Many reports at Amnesty: http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/uae

As for Dubai, they are trying to turn a blind eye to Western excess to encourage tourism, but still heavily oppress their own.

chesky369

There is a bit of a problem if you start quoting Amnesty International. Sure, the United Arab Emirates have several cases of human rights abuses - six pages or so. The USA has 100 pages of human rights abuses on Amnesty's website ....... guess we shouldn't go there on holiday either.

richardlionheart

Problem also is the Dollar is linked to the UAE Dirham ,
probabley the idea is to encourage those working out there to keep their money
there also.

I spent some time in Dubia with a construction company.
and i must admit it was a very happy multinational workforce.
not sure about the past , but over there H&S is of the utmost importance.
The slogan on the sites "know safety no pain - no safety Know pain"

unlike some of the shoddy practices which still go on over here,
(we most of the time pay lip service to Heath and Saftey)
we have just finished a large PFI project and from the site rule of
"non use of step ladders on site ruling" to ok ,we are behind
schedule and are about to be fined ..so use them :rolleyes:



one thing is for sure , you can walk the streets of Dubai in the evenings without fear.
if only we could say the same.

Rich