A sign of the times..... (73)

Icelandic internet bank stops British customers making withdrawals as bank goes into receivershipBy Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:01 PM on 07th October 2008


More than 200,000 British investors in the Icelandic internet bank Icesave were today unable to make any deposits or withdrawals from their accounts.

Customers hoping to access their account were met with a message on the bank's website this morning which said that Icesave was not 'currently processing any deposits or withdrawal requests'.
There was no explanation for the move but it comes as Iceland's government grappled with a major crisis in its banking sector.
This morning Iceland used emergency powers adopted on Monday to dismiss the board of directors of Landsbanki, the bank that owns Icesave, and put the bank into receivership.
'Landsbanki would like to stress that the bank has not been put into liquidation but is in receivership which gives it a temporary protection from payment of debts and obligations as they fall due,' the bank said in a statement.


The notice on the Icesave website read:

"We are not currently processing any deposits or any withdrawal requests through our Icesave internet accounts.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause our customers. We hope to provide you with more information shortly."
Angry customers wrote on MailOnline's sister website , thisismoney.co.uk about their situation.
Justin Smith, an IT consultant from West London, said: "I feel confused and badly informed by Icesave - there has been no direct communication from the firm and now I am unable to withdraw my life savings, with no idea on what happens from here.
"I only recently transferred all my ISA savings to the bank, attracted by high interest rates and guarantees and now I am facing the prospect of having to go through the painful process of claiming back from two governments and the possibility of losing my ISA tax wrapper on nearly 10 years' of savings."
If Icesave is declared insolvent, British customers with sole accounts will be able to reclaim up to £50,000 and those with joint accounts are protected up to £100,000.
But the payouts are complicated by the fact that the Icelandic scheme would pay the first 20,887 euros (£16,170) people lost, with the FSCS topping up the rest.
If the Icelandic scheme was unable to cope with the scale of the payouts, other Nordic compensation schemes would step in as part of a reciprocal agreement the countries have.

What can I say? A total mess.
I wonder what will happen next.
Seems that all Europe is on fire.
We are joking here but I am sure we all think of how this crisis affects us.

Well, that's the point...goverments and banks are now terrified that there will be a run on their accounts, and people will come streaming in to withdraw their savings...if that happens, and people all over the world are swept up into a run for the money, the whole financial system will collapse...some people are not even joking when they say it is a good time to go, get your cash, and stick it under your mattrass....it may well be a lot safer than any bank right now....what a disaster!!

Can you tell me please what happened, why is all this mess? I was not reading news, nor TV for a long time.

I would be pleased to tell you all about the financial crisis......please come to my office after work, and wear a short skirt...

This is exactly what you told me the other day.
You forgot???

I send you a non decent picture or I watch tv.
No bargain with people with such a short memory!

Exactly!!!...this was my point....to show the stupid, mindlessness of the average male....with only one thing on his mind.....and repetitious....that's why I repeated word for word the same silly, sexist snide smirky sleazy comment that I made the other day....silly silly boy!!...needs a good slap man....!!

...sometimes you have to show by blatant example, the superficiality of the average male out there....purely as an education you understand...We on CS, on the other hand, you have five fingers...sorry, I've lost the plot of the argument, because I was hoping by this point that you would have stopped reading this drivel....

I agree lagoona.....

so how are you guys reacting to this sit ..have any of you actually gone and withdrawn your life savings and tucked them under the matress at home!!!!!

Yup...it's under my mattrass...you want my address?

I have your adress and if i remember rightly you have no where to actually hide money in the sparce nuovo decor you have adopted!!! LOL......However this is a serious question ..I am curios t osee if any CS members have actually gone as far as retrieving their life savings???????????

no ghost,do you think we should

I dont know I guess it in part depends on where your money is stashed away ..if its a key bank then i guess its safe ..though of course you never know for sure but then i guess there is no such thing as a sure thing...............

check how much your govermsnt guarantees to repay you if your bank crashes.This varies from country to country.

Split your saving's between Ireland, Germany and any other country that garanteess it....Today its a case of not putting all your eggs in one basket...

The EU countries should guarantee deposits until 50 000 EUR.Enough?

thanks for all the feedback though to be honest i have heard nothing about government guaranting any banks in Malta wonder if any Maltese know anything on the subject