‘Our family saved for generations – now it’s been lost’
Wednesday 21st January 2009, 1:00PM GMT.
‘THE Landsbanki collapse has cost our grandchildren their inheritance’, said John and Barbara Bougourd (pictured).
The retired local couple, who attended yesterday’s meeting with the bank’s administrators, said they were sad that money their families had saved for them over generations seemed to be lost.
‘It was money that was saved before and during the war when there was not much around and which we invested,’ said Mrs Bougourd.
This was not how she had envisaged letting go of it. ‘It seems so sad to lose it like this after all that.’
They have six grandchildren in the UK whom they try to visit as often as they can, she said.
‘We visit them about four times a year. I suppose we will probably have to reduce that a bit now.’
Mr Bougourd said he doubted they would get more than half of their money back, despite the fight there had been for it.
‘I don’t think we will see as much as 100%, we would be happy with 50%,’ he said.
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While I am sorry for the Bougourd’s and their grandchildren, I think their story is unusual. There are many personal and very sad stories of individual savers and the elderly out there who are in desperate need of their funds in order to survive from day to day.
As for the, ‘We would be happy with 50%’, there cannot be too many depositors who would or could agree given the devastation the loss of our hard earned and prudently saved funds has caused in our lives. As a pensioner myself I know I can’t possibly survive for long without the income these stolen savings brought, which is terrifying.
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I have commented before that this is an appalling situation for all concerned and Guernsey should be showing great shame and concern which it is not.
However this issue will not go away – keep up the fight and keep the publicity to the forefront.
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The frustration, anger at having our money literally stolen, and problems of coping with the loss of savings and the extra income it would have generated is made worse by the fact that those who could do something seem not to give a toss ! Certainly the Channel Islands have betrayed our trust.
It’s a wonder most politicians can sleep at night; but then a thick skin is an essential qualification for the job.
I wonder how mssrs Brown, Darling or Trott would feel if I nipped over and stole their cars ?
Could be not much as they don’t have to buy their own no doubt. Our replacement for the old banger was stolen twice last year. Firstly by the greedy traders who ‘crashed ‘ my HBOS shares and the then by greedy and incompetent bankers ( alledgedly aided by certain politicians ) who stole my savings with Landsbanki.
I ask the Bougourds to have faith. There is a lot of support and growing. We will not vanish however much certain factions would like it.
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Joe, with regard to your so called “greedy traders,” I’d like you to step back and look at your own actions and how they could be perceived by others.
You were invested in high yielding risky bank share that was making money out of selling mortgages to the low paid in the UK. The HBOS share price collapsed when the market realised that its business model was unsustainable. When you received your HBOS dividends a large part of that cheque was effectively being written by the poor that had been sold a debt they will probably never pay off.
On top of that you knowingly placed your cash with a highly risky Icelandic bank.
Greed on your part.
Pure and simple.
I suggest you research your investments more next time, don’t just look for high returns and diversify.
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I am very bored over all of this now. The bank failed which is fact. The GFSC failed the depositors by allowing the money to leave the Island without keeping enough of a float to repay its savers savings.
What is the point in having insurance that has no money to repay in times which it required to do so.
Savers have placed their savings in a highly respected and well regulated offshore finance organisation. My question here is where is the respect for these savers then.
What were the regulators doing when the bank was struggling to make ends meet? Drinking coffee and keeping a keen eye open for drug money.
Our CM has accountability for not being sharp enough to prevent this happening in the first place.
The bank can’t legally be sued now. However the GFSC can and so can the states of Guernsey!
Both must have liability insurance to cover instances of this nature. They are not going to state this. It is the responsibility for at least one saver, but best done collectively, to push for legal accountability.
Complaining is baring no fruit. It never does is the Channel Islands.
Seek legal advice, do it quickly, or kiss your cash goodbye.
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By your own admission, Marmalade, Landsbanki was “a highly risky Icelandic bank”.
So why did your regulator permit the sale of safe Cheshire BS savings?
Isn’t it the Guernsey authorities – and not Joe – that you should be taking to task?
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It’s mainly Joe’s hard done by HBOS shareholder routine I’m against. He made money out of bad loans but wants sympathy when it went the other way.
I agree that Cheshire BS savers were hard done by but I still argue that everyone should pay far more attention to their own money and pass less blame on to others.
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Guernsey likes profiling itself as a well run, well regulated, safe haven for deposits. Actually, its financial system is on par with the worst banana republics’ and the only black hole in the West where deposits can vanish overnight. I would argue that it is even worse than any banana republic because in that case, you know what to expect and can act accordingly. Guernsey provides you with a false sense of security with no substance whatsoever.
The Bougourd family, like many others, were caught in that pitfall.
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OK Marmalade.
If I accept in some part your claim that I was greedy to accept my HBOS dividends then I ask you to remember that they were providing money for people to be able to buy their own homes.
As for Landsbanki. I did not see them as being in any way ‘dodgy’ neither were the interest rates particularly high. I Deposited some money in a BANK in an Offshore Financial Centre of reputation. Not at the time a particularly risky investment in most people’s
thinking.! WRONG…….
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Mark
Landsbanki took over Cheshire BS before the shakiness of the Icelandic banks became apparent. I feel it unfair to slate the GFSC for this.
What happended bewteen January 200 and October 2008 is a different story. Michael Frost was kind enough in his review of GFSC to whitewash almost all of the warnings of these events and warnings out of the LG history.
Today we have the new head of FSA saying that regulation was seiously deficient. As Foot used the “tick the box, but don’t bother what is in the box” approach to verify what GFSC did or did not do, it increases the pressure on the GFSC.
all of this, despite the comment in early 2008, that it was not a question of if an Icelandic bank defaults, but when.
Ask yourself also what model the GFSC is itself built on? No prize for the answer.
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Joe, HBOS were loaning money to keep people in debt and helped perpetuate the myth that if you owe more than your house is worth that you are in fact a ‘home owner.’ You made money off that little scheme.
You say your money was deposited in “an Offshore Financial Centre of reputation.” So you didn’t invest in a Guernsey bank after all?
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In situations like this, everybody is thrashing around trying to find someone to blame for the misfortune that has befallen them. Some say it’s the Guernsey government (or personalise to Lyndon Trott), others blame the GFSC or the Icelandic government or the people of Guernsey or Gordon Brown or………(fill in your own choice of devil).
If there are any particular individuals to blame, it is almost certainly the senior management in the badly run banks. What can be said with absolute certainty is that the financial storm is almost planet wide and it seems harsh to single out one particular small jurisdiction.
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i totally empathise with mr and mrs bougourd
if my parents had put life savings in landsbanki then heaven help us all as ALL family money wouldve been lost and there wouldnt have been even an inkling of inheritance or help or support from parents and definately no money for health care plans in future for either of my parents
They are right in that we work all our lives for this mnoney and then it is lost almost callously by banks
maybe we should go back to the 50′s idea of keeping it all in the mattress???
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do you know what…the banks lent money to all and sundry and even those with terrible credit history before all of this…..then they wonder why they arent getting their money back???? it’s like lending to people on benefit……..if they havent got the money then you certainly wonyt get it back…..i’ve known many people who on benefit and bad credit have talked themselves into loans they have no intention of repaying….i think the world went wrong whenn they started lending to anyone……..12 years ago i had to have a guarantor and 3 meetings with bank for a loan less than a thousand….nowadays id have been given it point blank, one meeting
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I MUST TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU ABOVE MELISSA.
My point is this, I kind of know the minimum amounts of money you need to start an account in these offshore banks, because I have had a nosey at some of the popular ones websites, before this recession started. Before Landsbanki came in the news neither I or any one I knew had heard of this bank. The people who deposited money into this bank to get a massive interest on their savings compared to a normal high street bank are obviously rich. You could not start an account with say £5,000 because they would laugh you out the building.
Living on an income of less then £10,000 each year, I used to just manage one holiday to the UK a year, I certainly could not afford to have taken 4 a year like the Bougourd’s mentioned here “we will have to reduce that a bit now”. With things getting expensive in the last few years I have not had a holiday in the UK since 2006.
I wish all the depositers would stop moaning about it and remember there are lots of people on low incomes who work hard and could only dream of even reaching a five figure sum in the bank and are having a lot harder time living then the depositers are.
One other point I want to add about the depositers is why are you hasseling the States for your money back, it really has nothing to do with them that Landsbanki have gone bust, surely you should be targeting the Icelandic government who unless I am mistaken own Landsbanki bank?
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At last!
The Administrators are begining to see that the ONLY way forward is to actively and vigorously fight for the return of monies owed in accordance with the assurance(s) of financial support originally given by the LG parent organisation in Iceland.
Three cheers and keep up the pressure!!
As for blame.. Well there is certainly no lack of potential targets…
But. Lest we forget, he who opens the door to a thief and furthermore, stands idly by to observe him hold a “Garage Sale” in the front yard can hardly claim not to be responsible for the resulting loss(es).
GFSC -> Having allowed this to happen, it is only right that you now offer up an appropriate level of compensation to those who`s savings you allowed to be lost.
Afterwhich, it is YOU. Not the people who trusted you who whould be seeking compensation from the appropriate body)ies) in Iceland!
How cowardly and disapointing have your actions been to date.
Rise up, do the right thing and at least be seen to be heroes …
…instead of creeps!
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It makes you wonder why I have to insure my car yet bankers dont have to insure our savings?
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