Money safe in Citi if nationalised? [renamed from Citibank/Egg Collapse]

autopetfeeder

I've just opened a citibank savings account and now have the details to be able to transfer cash to it. The question is, should I wait a few weeks before doing it (just in case) or would my money be as safe in Citi as any other bank operating in the UK?

Presumably, if Citigroup was nationalised then their operation in the UK would continue? Even if it were allowed to fail, then the FSA would pay right? Or am I just stupid/greedy trying to get an extra .25% and should stash my cash in th best UK bank/building soc?

Doomcow

i think its in the FSCS which means you get your 50k protection, meaning its as safe as any over bank with FSCS protection.

Masomnia

autopetfeeder wrote: »

I've just opened a citibank savings account and now have the details to be able to transfer cash to it. The question is, should I wait a few weeks before doing it (just in case) or would my money be as safe in Citi as any other bank operating in the UK?

Presumably, if Citigroup was nationalised then their operation in the UK would continue? Even if it were allowed to fail, then the FSA would pay right? Or am I just stupid/greedy trying to get an extra .25% and should stash my cash in th best UK bank/building soc?

The US would not let what (I think) is the largest bank in the world collapse, especially with Obama in power. The UK operation would continue, and in any case Citibank has an FSCS licence so you're covered up to £50k.

You say it's only .25%, but that's only in nominal terms. Meaning if one account pays 2%, and the other 2.25%, then you don't get 0.25% more interest but 12.25% more.

sabretoothtigger

In 1990 Citibank was in trouble, their share price fell to half what it is now but by the end of the decade it was twenty times as much

opinions4u

Could you rename the thread please.

I just spilled my tea on the laptop.

EalingSaver

autopetfeeder wrote: »

I've just opened a citibank savings account and now have the details to be able to transfer cash to it. The question is, should I wait a few weeks before doing it (just in case) or would my money be as safe in Citi as any other bank operating in the UK?

Why a couple of weeks? Why would the situation be any clearer - assuming it hadn't yet gone belly up - in a couple of weeks?

Citibank like many has been in big trouble for a while. And yes it is one of the biggest, and yes it is almost, but not entirely, inconceivable that it could be let to fail. and yes its coverd by the UK FSCS.

EalingSaver

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

In 1990 Citibank was in trouble, their share price fell to half what it is now but by the end of the decade it was twenty times as much

arguably its the latter point which is one of the reasons its sufferring worse than some others: over expansion, diversification from core, and acquisition iteness. RBS on a grander scale??

autopetfeeder

EalingSaver wrote: »

Why a couple of weeks? Why would the situation be any clearer - assuming it hadn't yet gone belly up - in a couple of weeks?

Citibank like many has been in big trouble for a while. And yes it is one of the biggest, and yes it is almost, but not entirely, inconceivable that it could be let to fail. and yes its coverd by the UK FSCS.

If I'd asked the same about Lehman Brothers a year or so ago wouldn't I have solicited a similar "inconceivable" response? Are they so fundamentally different in terms of why the US government would prop one up but not the other?

Masomnia

autopetfeeder wrote: »

If I'd asked the same about Lehman Brothers a year or so ago wouldn't I have solicited a similar "inconceivable" response? Are they so fundamentally different in terms of why the US government would prop one up but not the other?

Lehmann Brothers was an investment bank and didn't have any savers. So, yes.

sheslookinhot

autopetfeeder wrote: »

I've just opened a citibank savings account and now have the details to be able to transfer cash to it. The question is, should I wait a few weeks before doing it (just in case) or would my money be as safe in Citi as any other bank operating in the UK?

Presumably, if Citigroup was nationalised then their operation in the UK would continue? Even if it were allowed to fail, then the FSA would pay right? Or am I just stupid/greedy trying to get an extra .25% and should stash my cash in th best UK bank/building soc?

Why open an account then within minutes be nervous about making deposits ?

EalingSaver

Masomnia wrote: »

Lehmann Brothers was an investment bank and didn't have any savers. So, yes.

Quite.

Plus I didn't say inconceivable, but rather "almost, but not entirely..."

I would take the view that the higher level of risk is that it could be allowed to 'fail', but rather in the fashion that B&B (on much smaller scale) was allowed to fail. In that situation their could be a cap on how much deposit protection the US govt. provided, and could limit that protection to just the US business putting the onus on other countries schemes to provide protection for local outfits. Hence the real key question/answer is the FSCS protection.