Very worrying stop press news re Anglo Irish

gozomark

thanks - I was able to access without registering

But Ireland is not the biggest danger for the eurozone. If the country goes down, the eurozone will bail it out. Even the Germans accept this now. A far more imminent danger lurks in central and eastern Europe. The possibility of a financial collapse there is the most urgent policy issue the European Union must confront at this point. If mishandled, it could bring down the eurozone........

In my view, the smartest answer to the prospect of meltdown is the adoption of the euro (by central and eastern Europe) as quickly as possible. There is no need to switch over tomorrow. All we need tomorrow is a credible and firm accession strategy – one for each country – which would include a firm membership date and a conversion rate, backed up by credible policies....

If calamity strikes, the EU will pay up. This is laudable, but will probably not solve the problem, especially if the crisis spreads. Granting financial aid without a firm commitment to euro membership would be irresponsible. Euroisation is the way to go.

eeja

On BBC news today ....an amazing statement by Warren Buffett the USA 's most successful investor : He said his most stupid mistake this year was....wait for it....to buy shares in two Irish banks !!!
He did not disclose the name of those banks but likely to have been Anglo Irish !!!!!!!!
[His next biggest mistake was to buy oil shares at their peak and named Conoco]

Manics_2

...not likely at all to be Anglo Irish IMHO.

If you take the time to read the Berkshire Hathaway annual report then you'll see the $220m investment has been written down to $24m.

Anglo Irish would have been written off completely since they were nationalised.

Gwhiz

Manics wrote: »

...not likely at all to be Anglo Irish IMHO.

If you take the time to read the Berkshire Hathaway annual report then you'll see the $220m investment has been written down to $24m.

Anglo Irish would have been written off completely since they were nationalised.

But he said TWO banks. So it could be Anglo Irish gone to 0 and another down to $24m.

kostigovs

Apologies if this has already been posted. Like many here I have investments in both Anglo Irish and the Post Office. I'm locked into the Anglo Irish for a further 8 months.
I noticed in relation to my Post Office growth bond 7 that there is a bond breakage charge if I wish to close the account early-partial withdrawals are not allowed. Yesterday I asked the Post Office how much the breakage charge would be only to be told that there is no charge being applied at present and closures are penalty-free.

For those with nervous dispositions this might be a lifeline worth considering. Then again where are you going to get 6.7% fixed at present?

Gwhiz

kostigovs wrote: »

Apologies if this has already been posted. Like many here I have investments in both Anglo Irish and the Post Office. I'm locked into the Anglo Irish for a further 8 months.
I noticed in relation to my Post Office growth bond 7 that there is a bond breakage charge if I wish to close the account early-partial withdrawals are not allowed. Yesterday I asked the Post Office how much the breakage charge would be only to be told that there is no charge being applied at present and closures are penalty-free.

For those with nervous dispositions this might be a lifeline worth considering. Then again where are you going to get 6.7% fixed at present?

There were a few discussions last week about the PO change of terms. Like you, I have money with Anglo and PO (BofI) maturing in about 5 months. I am happy where the money is and am not losing sleep.

gozomark

EU confirms rescue plan for countries in crisis

http://www.independent.ie/business/european/eu-confirms-rescue-plan-for-countries-in-crisis-1660214.html

EU authorities have "a solution" for any euro area country in crisis which would come into play before a government would have to seek International Monetary Fund aid, European Union Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said yesterday.
"If the crisis emerges in one euro-area country, there is a solution," Mr Almunia said at a conference in Brussels yesterday. "There is a solution before visiting the IMF." He declined to give details.

Midnight_Cowboy_2

Interesting report. Does seem quite positive, but if there is a 'solution' in place, why not make it public because that could ease the fear and uncertainty that is causing current problems to spiral?

On a different tack, I posted a couple of weeks ago that I'd written a letter asking what would happen if the Irish Deposit Protection Scheme couldn't pay out, and sent it to Anglo Irish, the Irish Finance Regulator and Dept of Finance. I also sent it to the ECB and IMF, just for fun really as I wasn't expecting these two to reply.

I've had three responses. Anglo Irish's was predictable (your money is safe, but they couldn't comment on the IDPS not paying out). Suprisingly, the ECB replied. Their response was firm, that they are not responsible for bail out of savings. They recommended contacting the Irish Financial Regulator, who also replied, recommending that I contact the Irish Dept of Finance - who so far haven't replied.

Ironically (considering the Irish Independent's story from the previous post) I decided yesterday to withdraw from Anglo Irish. After all the research and reading of forums like this, the conclusion I came to is that nobody knows what will happen if Ireland defaulted. It's unlikely, but not impossible in a time of unprecedented financial turmoil. If it happens, there may well be a bailout; but that could take ages. I've decided to trade the loss of interest for some peace of mind; otherwise I'm going to spend the next 10 months trawling the news and boards like this, wondering if my money's safe.

I recently wrote a brilliant letter requesting withdrawal due to breach of T&Cs. Normally I would stick to my guns but Anglo Irish seem to be rejecting this approach and I don't want to spend 6 months arguing with them. The important thing is to release the cash now, and argue with them about the penalty later. So I've sent a letter requesting withdrawal due to an emergency. I'll post again when I receive a response.

melbury

Midnight_Cowboy wrote: »

I've decided to trade the loss of interest for some peace of mind; otherwise I'm going to spend the next 10 months trawling the news and boards like this, wondering if my money's safe.

I recently wrote a brilliant letter requesting withdrawal due to breach of T&Cs. Normally I would stick to my guns but Anglo Irish seem to be rejecting this approach and I don't want to spend 6 months arguing with them. The important thing is to release the cash now, and argue with them about the penalty later. So I've sent a letter requesting withdrawal due to an emergency. I'll post again when I receive a response.

This is my situation exactly, in a nutshell.

Their response to my letter requesting withdrawal due to breach of T&C's took nearly 3 weeks and consisted of a phone call late one afternoon when I was still at work and my husband took the call. He was told that what was in the letter wasn't a good enough reason, so NO we couldn't have our money back.

I did try for a week to phone the man back, but have never been able to get through.

So, I have pretty much resigned myself to waiting until November. Trouble is that I am continually reading Irish newspapers online for any inkling of news about the state of their economy, which is totally ridiculous and really must stop.

If I get to the point where I really can't stand it anymore, I might write again using the personal emergency scenario, but surely they would not believe this as I have already written using the T&C's reason.

Thank you Gozomark for being such a positive influence on here, it is a source of great comfort:D

bendipa

Midnight_Cowboy wrote: »

Interesting report. Does seem quite positive, but if there is a 'solution' in place, why not make it public because that could ease the fear and uncertainty that is causing current problems to spiral?

On a different tack, I posted a couple of weeks ago that I'd written a letter asking what would happen if the Irish Deposit Protection Scheme couldn't pay out, and sent it to Anglo Irish, the Irish Finance Regulator and Dept of Finance. I also sent it to the ECB and IMF, just for fun really as I wasn't expecting these two to reply.

Once again (for the umpteenth time)...The Irish Deposit Protection Scheme is no longer relevant to ANG as they have now been nationalised. Its deposits are backed wholly by the Irish government without a time limit. The scheme only applies to privately run banks, and means the Irish government is guaranteeing such deposits for 2 years from the 26th September 2008.