Lib Dems warn over Irish banks' safety

Former_MSE_Guy

This thread is to discuss the following news story:

Warning over Irish banks' safety

gozomark

wakey, wakey, Libdems - this story is months old

cepheus

Of course if Moody & Co had done their job properly in the first place!

Irish banks rattled on ratings downgrade

Moody's downgraded its ratings on 12 Irish banks, including Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland which backs Post Office savings in the UK, saying that it expected them to incur further losses from a continued deterioration in property prices, rising corporate defaults and poor residential loan performance.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/investing-and-markets/article.html?in_article_id=482088&in_page_id=3&ct=5

Count_Dante

Even after the downgrade, the credit rating of Irish banks - taken at face value - is still very high and the chance of default is very low. Still, I'd be worried if I had a large proportion of my wealth in Irish banks.

WD40

gozomark wrote: »

wakey, wakey, Libdems - this story is months old

October 2008: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7663596.stm

lynzpower

This is age old, but also doesnt it grate the way Mandelson keeps going on about the post office being the "peoples bank".

Only if the FSA guarantees them mandy, unlesws you want to f*** over some little old ladies who dont realise thier money is no longer safe in the PO.

Its possibly THEmost unsafe place to have savings ATM and the gov seem to be pushing it as a viable option- distasteful .

Andrew64

lynzpower wrote: »

Its possibly THE most unsafe place to have savings ATM and the gov seem to be pushing it as a viable option - distasteful .

You think they care? They're happy enough to spend our money on second homes and !!!!!!! If any of us lost money in an Irish bank (through the Post Office) this creep Mandy would probably say it was our own fault!

Trollfever

The Post Office has rejected calls from the Liberal Democrats to abandon its ties with the Bank of Ireland as fears over the Irish economy grow.
The organisation, which has 2m British customers, uses Bank of Ireland to run all its financial products, including its popular growth bonds and Isas. These accounts are not covered by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme — instead, customers must rely on a guarantee from the Irish government that 100% of their savings will be repaid.
Last week, Ireland unveiled an emergency budget containing measures to boost the economy, after which Fitch, the ratings agency, stripped it of its AAA debt rating. The downgrade came despite the European Commission’s endorsement of the budget measures.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/savings/article6077127.ece

Andrew64

I like this bit of the above article:

Lord Oakeshott, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, said: “The market’s message is that this is a shaky bank backed by a shaky government."

The Post Office should not be taking any risk at all with its customers' money. Although we can't be sure if Ireland ends up like Iceland and its banks end up like Icesave, KE etc, why take the risk? There have been a lot of articles recently about just how bad the Irish economy is, and the response to an Irish default by the ECB is unknown. Even if Ireland is bailed-out, would that extend to British depositors, and what would the UK government do? All very uncertain! In March/April last year, there were warnings about Icelandic banks - but the banks said everything was fine and people stuck with them. Six months later, there were the same warnings and the same assurances - but bang!! Are we getting the same sort of warnings about Ireland and its banks now??

Andrew64

I've been hearing stories for months about Councils and other bodies removing their money from Irish banks, but this is the first article I've seen on this. Anyone know of any other examples?

City Hall withdraws £4m from Irish banks

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=News&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED02%20Apr%202009%2016%3A52%3A04%3A437

"Norwich City Council has withdrawn around £4m it had invested in Irish banks, amid concerns over the country's financial institutions."

glads69

Please can someone explain to me in monosyllables what is the basis for this warning? Money in Irish bank accounts is guaranteed up to 100,000 euros (app £89,000) per depositor compared to the UK's guarantee of up to £50,000 per depositor. What is the evidence that the Irish guarantee is shakier that the UK's guarantee? Why is the Irish position being equated to the Icelandic position a few months back?