LANDSBANKI Guernsey’s administrator assured local depositors that he was taking all possible steps to safeguard their interests.
Rick Garrard, from Deloitte and Touche LLP, said his role was to try to secure the survival of the bank or its sale. In a statement he said: ‘Landsbanki is a subsidiary of the Icelandic bank, Landsbanki Islands hf, which has gone into receivership.
‘We are aware that a UK-based subsidiary of Landsbanki Islands hf, Heritable Bank, has also gone into administration. The administration of Heritable Bank and the complexity of the bank’s other assets is expected to impact on the recovery of those assets and accordingly the situation needs careful evaluation.
‘In the meantime, I am taking all possible steps to safeguard the interest of depositors. At this time it is unclear whether depositors will receive all of their deposits and accumulated interest outstanding as at 6 October 2008 (the date of appointment).’
Mr Garrard said the bank’s day-to-day operations would continue to be supported by service providers.
Article posted on 9th October, 2008 - 1.00pm
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6 Article Comments
Unless monies are completely and promptly refunded to individuals, who will regard Guernsey as a safe and well regulated private deposit banking location for their savings in the future…? The Landsbanki failure is Guernseys chance to show the world that Guernsey is the place to invest wealth safely.. Don’t miss this chance Guernsey! Guernseys future as an offshore banking center is at stake.
Agree with Steve - the stakes for the future of Guernsey as a financial centre are very high
The following quote today on Bloomberg’s site is interesting regarding Landsbanki, “It remains uncertain as to the extent that the sovereign can distance itself from the foreign liabilities of failing Icelandic banks”
One of the problems getting in the way of depositors receiving 100% of their own money will be the fees charged by Deloitte & Touche here - when, if ever, the accounts are published their fees are bound to be shown to be sky high!!
Steve makes a valid point - Guernsey’s future as a safe offshore banking centre is under the spotlight due to Landsbanki being put into administration
Currently, Guernsey is not a completely safe place to deposit money as there is not a compensation scheme in place. No matter how good a job Rick Garrard does, this fact will be made very public.
The States and the GFSC are going to have to move very quickly to introduce a scheme which will assure current and new depositors that their money is safe in the case of a bank failure.
Well Guernsey will certainly know tomorrow! Guernseys slow response to this horrendous situation is on Sky News. After the amount of letters and emails the GFSC, Chief Minister etc have received and have done absolutely nothing to help these account holders or reassure them it will be thier fault if Guernsey financial repuation goes down the drain and people move thier funds out of the island!! They cant expect to have a financial centre and have the good years and rewards and then in bad times neglect their responsiblities. My heart goes out to those people with life savings that have been lost.
Have heard today that both the UK Treasury and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in Iceland talking to the Icelandic Central Bank (who effectively own Lansbanki)- best chance of recovering deposits would be if IMF put together a short term liquidity program as well as guarantee assistance so that the Icelandic banks can operate effectively in the money markets
Iceland had been against IMF support but it is probably their best option of staying afloat as a national economic entity
Also compare IOM to Guernsey - they made announcements yesterday a day after tje other Icelandic bank failed and have confirmed their increased guarantee scheme will be applicable
Has there been any news from the Guernsey authorities since Tuesday ? No wonder all investors in Guernsey are concerned about the risks to their assets