how safe is building society?

stevepas

In the light of this current economic turmoil and the possibility of greece defaulting I'm wondering how banks like bnp paribas (apparently they are exposed to greece) would be affected. Would a building society be safer due to its differences?

MarkyMarkD

Firstly, deposits with UK banks and building societies are protected by the FSCS up to £85,000 per individual, so investments under that amount are safe in any case.

Secondly, no UK bank or building society of any significance has ever defaulted on its retail liabilities.

Thirdly, the proportion of funds which a UK building society will have invested in French or (worse) Greek banks is going to generally be very small indeed. After the Icelandic debacle they will have become even more cautious in their approach to lending to foreign banks. So, even if they suffer a loss of a small part of their funds, it won't likely make any difference to a retail investor.

stevepas

thanks for informative reply, I had forgotten about the 85k protection. Good to hear about the icelandic situation making the uk banks more cautious. cheers