Anglo Irish Bank

oldish

The chairman and founder of the Anglo Irish Bank, Sean Fitzpatrick, has resigned over a loan irregularity. Shares have dropped, but the Irish government says it will continue to guarantee all savings within the set limit.
I was about to open an account with them, but will now hold back.

Steve_xx

Why hold back? They are protected by the FSCS and therefore your cash is safe.

eeja

oldish wrote: »

The chairman and founder of the Anglo Irish Bank, Sean Fitzpatrick, has resigned over a loan irregularity. Shares have dropped, but the Irish government says it will continue to guarantee all savings within the set limit.
I was about to open an account with them, but will now hold back.

What set limit ? Is the guarantee on deposits not unlimited ?

cos69

eeja wrote: »

What set limit ? Is the guarantee on deposits not unlimited ?

the guarantee is time limited, I think it expires in 2010 then reverts to 100k euros, can't be bothered to check the date

cos69

Steve_xx wrote: »

Why hold back? They are protected by the FSCS and therefore your cash is safe.

Are they, I thought they were outside the FSCS scheme !

anniecave

they are saying they are covered by both Irish scheme and FSCS !

http://www.angloirishbank.co.uk/Personal_Savings/FAQ/FAQ_for_Fixed_Rate_Bond/

soulsaver

anniecave wrote: »

they are saying they are covered by both Irish scheme and FSCS !

http://www.angloirishbank.co.uk/Personal_Savings/FAQ/FAQ_for_Fixed_Rate_Bond/

Typically their statement is out of date and the issue is one of the things that from a consumer point of view is a dogs breakfast of a mess IMHO, typical of Brussels:
There is a STATED 100% guarantee from Irish treasury.. til 2010 (Sept?)
There is question whether Ireland could afford to back that guarantee with real money in the event of a collapse of any one of the big 6 Irish Banks (including AI)
There are statements that say they should be ok 'cos supported by Euro Central Bank;
but the 100% guarantee appears 'not ratified' by Brussels (unless anyone has evidence to contrary) so maybe you can't rely on ECB support...
Failing the 100% coverage, there should be E100k* coverage which was supposed to be the 'standard' for Euro countries which I believe Ireland has ratified with the ECB, and certainly applied to Ireland before they went the unilateral 100%, hence the AI FAQ's staement.
Now to the point: If the compensation scheme of the parent country of a European bank branch operating in the UK exceeds that offered by the FSCS then it is covered by the parent country scheme - not the UK FSCS.
So what happens if the Irish can't or wont pay? Will it be covered by the FSCS?
Opinions differ. However it appears unlikely they'll be allowed to collapse - nationalisation a la Northern Rock et al appears more likely....

* NB there appear to be exceptions to the 100k rule - Cyprus for example which appears to be 20k still, and the Spanish arrangement appears to be a secret....as Santander comes under FSCS without passport???

oldish

Steve_xx wrote: »

Why hold back? They are protected by the FSCS and therefore your cash is safe.

I don't think relying on protection makes everything all right. The delivery of compensation could be as much a six months and your interest stops on the day the bank ceases trading.

masonic

oldish wrote: »

I don't think relying on protection makes everything all right. The delivery of compensation could be as much a six months and your interest stops on the day the bank ceases trading.

Actually, we don't know this. In the case of money covered under the FSCS, interest is paid up until the date the bank ceases trading, but that may not apply to the Irish compensation scheme, which is scheme that actually covers this money. It could be the case, for example, that only the capital is covered and any unpaid interest is lost.

soulsaver

oldish wrote: »

I don't think relying on protection makes everything all right. The delivery of compensation could be as much a six months and your interest stops on the day the bank ceases trading.

Good point - but that wasn't the case for interest on FTBs under fscs application (Icesave). And Eurocrats are reviewing payment view to reducing to a target of 3days....! Now we know thats cloud cuckoo... but a month could be realistic. As I said - dog's breakfast...

Baldur

soulsaver wrote: »

....but that wasn't the case for interest on FTBs under fscs application (Icesave).

It's not the case for fixed term deposits, whether Icesave or any other defaulting institution - FAQ 8 http://www.fscs.org.uk/consumer/FAQs/Deposit_claims_FAQs/

8. Will you compensate me for any interest I have earned on my account?

Interest owed to the depositor as at the date the bank is declared "in default" by FSCS will be paid as part of the compensation amount. Notice accounts will be paid as if notice had been served on the day the account was frozen and payment will be made, including interest, at the end of the notice period. Fixed term accounts will be paid at the maturity date with the interest that would have been paid by the bank at maturity date.