BREAKING NEWS - INVESTORS in crisis-hit Landsbanki Guernsey have been offered a glimmer of hope this morning.
As customers contacted the Guernsey Press to tell of their fears, and in at least one case claim that they were contemplating suicide, Chief Minister Lyndon Trott said that he did not think they would lose all their money.
‘Depositors in Landsbanki Guernsey have not lost all their savings,’ he said last night. ‘I anticipate that there will be substantial recoveries from the bank, which will be passed on to customers.’
And a statement has been issued this morning from administrator Rick Garrard of Deloitte & Touche LLP which offers further cause for optimism.
‘The Bank had taken measures to diversify its exposure to its parent company in the six months preceding my appointment,’ he said.
‘The main reason for the Bank’s difficulties has been the placing of funds with its UK fellow subsidiary, Heritable Bank, which has now gone into Administration.’
‘There are significant liquid funds available to the Bank and we are doing everything we can within the boundaries of the law to enable a part payment to depositors and creditors to be made as soon as possible.’
Article posted on 10th October, 2008 - 10.16am
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6 Article Comments
Jackie
Are you reading this article?
Where is your cynicism now I wonder?
Having said that Lyndon Trott’s word is about as much reassurance as a chocolate fireguard. . . .
I believe Lyndon Trott is off to China at the moment and there is still no clarity yet as to whether Guernsey will pursue Iceland over the parent company guarantee, whereas in the Isle Of Man they have confirmed today (only 1 day after the collapse of the other Icelandic bank) that they will pursue the Icelandic parent company to honour its guarantee towards the local depositors funds - Guernsey has yet to get off the starting blocks on this from what I have seen this week
Well, constitutionally, the field of international relations is fairly and squarly the responsibility of HMG.
I am entirely sure that the States are liaising very closely with the Ministry of Justice in the UK and the Treasury regarding pursuing the guarantee given by the parent company, which, after all was Iceland’s national bank and is now nationalised.
The Treasury has frozen almost sufficent funds in the UK to cover Icelandic retail depositors and is now talking about being able to offer assistance to English Councils facing large losses in their wholesale deposits.
Again, I am sure that our elected Government is liasing closely with the UK Government to see that local residents who put their locally earned and taxed money in a local, bricks and mortar bank, do not lose out.
The very survival of the Guernsey finance industry depends upon such an outcome .. if Guernsey cannot protect its residents, then every Guernsey resident will, after this, export their hard-earned savings to the mainland, and if we don’t trust our finance industry, the rest of the world won’t!!
Jersay has guaranteed local savers 100%. Guernsey should step up to the plate to do the same, after all with ’significant funds’ having been located, it might not cost that much. Certainly it will cost less than not doing so.
I have heard that the Chief Minister has sent a delegation to China to promote Guernsey as a centre for banking and business. Wouldnt it be better to go to Iceland instead and try and find a satisfactory resolution to the current problem at Landsbanki. That would make people far happier about investing in Guernsey.
Glyn
I agree with your comments totally.
I find it unbelievable that a delegation is still in China, surely if we had real leadership they would return asap and work on a strategy to safeguard the islands finances, and therefore its future.
I hear that the subject of Depositors Protection is to be brought up in the November States meeting, I suppose they are waiting for the return of the delegation.
Soon it may be all too late.
Surely if as the article above says, ‘The Bank had taken measures to diversify its exposure to its parent company in the six months preceding my appointment. The main reason for the Bank’s difficulties has been the placing of funds with its UK fellow subsidiary, Heritable Bank, which has now gone into Administration’ then the diversified assets should be safe and I understand that the UK administrator of Heritable Bank has sold their deposit book to ING thus guaranteeing those deposits in full also. On that basis the administrator of the local bank should come out and say that depositors funds will be repaid in full.