Safest apart from NS&I

Hologram_2

wombat42 wrote: »

Who do you think is the safest bank or building society apart from NS&I ?

I think maybe Nationwide is a good contender.

It would make life easy If i consolidated my dosh in the same place if possible.

Like the Post Office Instant Saver myself. Use it at any PO, balance over £500 earns 6% nice simple account.
Way I see it, all the proper banks and financial institutions are governed by the FS Compensation Scheme and the same goes for the PO. The PO are backed by the Bank of Ireland and therefore FSCS and it is owed by the government.

I suppose that's as good as it gets, unless the lower interest rates of NS & I attract you. NS & I are backed 100% by the governemnt whereas FSCS only guarantees £31700 of your first £35000.

[Deleted User]

Mr_Mumble wrote: »

HSBC, for 3 reasons:

1. HSBC's deposits more than match their mortgage book.
2. HSBC don't have a big investment arm to get them into trouble.
3. They're the worlds third largest bank.

HSBC arguably have the biggest exposure to the yank subprime also are heavily invested in economys not as stable as uk plc.

gt94sss2

Yant1 wrote: »

HSBC arguably have the biggest exposure to the yank subprime also are heavily invested in economys not as stable as uk plc.

As in my post above, you have to separate HSBC in the UK from HSBC USA which are both legally separate banks.[SIZE=-1]

HSBC Holdings plc which owns all of these different HSBC banks is so large that any sub prime issue is a minor part of their business..

Regards
Sunil
[/SIZE]

Mr_Mumble

Yant1 wrote: »

HSBC arguably have the biggest exposure to the yank subprime also are heavily invested in economys not as stable as uk plc.

HSBC holdings does have more direct exposure to American sub-prime than any other UK listed bank. However, they've been very open about this, disclosed the problems way back in February and the subsiduary is still profitable. HSBC is highly diversified; the US is a problem at the same time they're making record profits in Hong Kong. I think this is preferable to most other UK deposit-takers who're reliant on UK plc's property bubble.

Check out HSBC's share price performance relative to any other UK bank over the last three months during this turmoil. Down but it hasn't fallen off a cliff akin to RBS, Barclays, HBOS, A&L, B&B or NRK!

I think this is a very theoretical discussion btw. I'd happily have my money in any UK building society or bank, there has always been an implicit guarantee on deposits from the government.

RayWolfe

gt94sss2 wrote: »

HSBC in the UK - probably none.
HSBC in [SIZE=-1]Malaya probably has some.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]However, they will be separate banks, even if they share the same brand name and the same ultimate holding company.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Regards[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Sunil[/SIZE]

So the collapse of an overseas affiliate with inter company debt guaranteed by the parent would have no effect?
M&Ss balance sheet was not affected by a failed US adventure?
The world out there is getting smaller and smaller.

gt94sss2

RayWolfe wrote: »

So the collapse of an overseas affiliate with inter company debt guaranteed by the parent would have no effect?
M&Ss balance sheet was not affected by a failed US adventure?

M&S was the parent company though, wasn't it?

With banks - they are different subsidiaries and the old Midland Bank is not the parent company..

Thought the ultimate holding company would be affected..

Regards
Sunil

RayWolfe

But so was the M&S US arm (Brooks Brothers Inc) a separate subsidiary.
All I'm saying is that a loss in one country affects the parent which affects other subsidiaries. HSBC are a British company that operates in the very best and the very worst countries. Didn't Barings subsidiary in Hong Kong (or Singapoor, I forget which) have an effect on the parent company?
Anyway, we are far away from the original question