Icelandic banks?? your tough luck!!

[insanojackson]

Sick of the sight on tv of people moaning about loosing money they have invested in icelandic banks, this includes various local councils. They all seem to think the government should compensate them.

Why should this be the case?? you all invested your money in OFFSHORE bank accounts so that you would get higher interest on your cash, the government did not make you do it, you voluntarily mover your money out of the UK for your own financial advantage.

It my opinion its your decision,your risk, and your tough ste!!! why should us taxpayers compensate you? if your accounts had been ok and you made a fortune would you have gave us a share? bks would you!

If you want your money to be safer you should have kept it in the UK!

[andy-xr]

From watching Ch4 news, it would appear that there was some insider knowledge on the part of the Treasury about the state of Iceland's finances in general going back to August'ish.

Being the cynical sort I'm of the opinion that there's no way each of the independant councils suddenly thought of their own free will that they'd quite like to stick some money into an Icelandic savings account. They're just not that clever. I'd hazard a guess that there was some guidance on the part of their actions, which turns out to have been, well a bit st

There was quite a lot of MoneySavingExpert type advice on top savings accounts, and I'd daresay a lot of private individuals went that way due to advice they were given on trying to get a decent return. They've not lost it from what I gather, although they cant get to it yet

[SamHH]

This topic has been done to death. If you're interested try searching for 'Icesave'. BTW, Icesave bank account aren't what I suspect most people would call an offshore bank account. Whilst the bank itself is Icelandic, my understanding is that they operated in the UK under the same regulations that UK based banks do.

[744ti]

+1

If all the local councils get their 'investment' back, presumably the residents pertaining to those councils will be exempt of tax for a good year or two?

[Simpo Two]

SamHH said:

Whilst the bank itself is Icelandic, my understanding is that they operated in the UK under the same regulations that UK based banks do.

Quite - you pay income tax on the interest (if appropriate) the same as anywhere else.

So, look at the logic. You're a low-risk investor. Equities - too risky. Coffee futures - too risky. Hedge funds - too risky. Aha, bank deposit account - what could be safer? Who has the best interest rate - aha. Perfectly logical.

So to the OP - no doubt you are a low-risk investor too. You chose differently, but if your 'low-risk' option suddenly went phut and you lost your savings, I expect you'd be a teensy bit aggreieved too?

[Ozzie Osmond]

+ another 1

[Pesty]

andy-xr said:

From watching Ch4 news, it would appear that there was some insider knowledge on the part of the Treasury about the state of Iceland's finances in general going back to August'ish.

C4 news tonight claimed Iceland approached British government/Bank of England in April because things were going tits up.

Thats a long time to know the sts going to hit the fan. Of course if they had mentioned it it could have caused a run on the banks and made things worse.

[nownek]

Pesty said:

andy-xr said:

From watching Ch4 news, it would appear that there was some insider knowledge on the part of the Treasury about the state of Iceland's finances in general going back to August'ish.

C4 news tonight claimed Iceland approached British government/Bank of England in April because things were going tits up.

Thats a long time to know the sts going to hit the fan. Of course if they had mentioned it it could have caused a run on the banks and made things worse.

I don't understand this at all.

It's been fairly widely trailed in the financial press that Iceland' financial model placed its banking sector a great risk pretty much since the credit crunch kicked off in earnest in Aug 2007. The spectre of an Icelandic bankruptcy has been openly discussed since at least last April- there was no great secret.

You didn't have to be a particularly sophisticated investor to realise that anything Icelandic was riskier than the mainstream UK banks, you just had to read the financial press.

[Pesty]

nownek said:

Pesty said:

andy-xr said:

From watching Ch4 news, it would appear that there was some insider knowledge on the part of the Treasury about the state of Iceland's finances in general going back to August'ish.

C4 news tonight claimed Iceland approached British government/Bank of England in April because things were going tits up.

Thats a long time to know the sts going to hit the fan. Of course if they had mentioned it it could have caused a run on the banks and made things worse.

I don't understand this at all.

It's been fairly widely trailed in the financial press that Iceland' financial model placed its banking sector a great risk pretty much since the credit crunch kicked off in earnest in Aug 2007. The spectre of an Icelandic bankruptcy has been openly discussed since at least last April- there was no great secret.

You didn't have to be a particularly sophisticated investor to realise that anything Icelandic was riskier than the mainstream UK banks, you just had to read the financial press.

Yes thats true. Although I think knowing its a risky is different to a risk going cap in hand to the BOE probably

[5 wh]

Quinny said:

Well I put my money in an Icelandic bank, earned a nice rate of interest, and when it went tits up got it all back.

If anyone doesn't like that TOUGH TITTY

+1

[trampagne]

insanojackson said:

It my opinion its your decision,your risk, and your tough ste!!! why should us taxpayers compensate you? if your accounts had been ok and you made a fortune would you have gave us a share? bks would you!

This fantastic bit of insight from the same person who was "thinking about starting to dablle in the stock market more as a hobby but hopefully to make a little cash"[sic]

Well my digit/ keyboard/ braincell challenged chum, It my opinion dat yo tawk out of yo arse. So someone freely chooses to invest their money abroad, making greater interest, which is perfectly legal, but when the bank goes down, its tough because they didn't give you any of their money? Iceland is in the EEA, anyone in the UK can put their hard earned where ever the hell they want and expect support and full legislation within such an area. If you bought something online from Sweden and you didn't receive your enlarger, would you not care at all?

When you start to earn a wage and realise that the UK banks are raping us under the guise of interets rates, you'll appreciate it, until then, ask daddy to make sure mummmy shops at Tesco instead of Iceland.

[SS HSV]

Icelandic Bank = Frozen Assets.

Nothing suprising there then

[AonFocalEile]

Got a letter from my mortgage lender last week. Basically said they have to cover part of the cost of the Icelandic banks through the compensation scheme so my mortgage rate was going down by 0.3% and not 0.5%.

So basically I have to pay for someone else’s bad decision on top of the extra I will pay through tax!

Seriously pissed off that my mortgage is higher than it should be because of other peoples investment decisions. Especially as I bet their mortgages are not effected! I pay they don’t, nice.

Edited by AonFocalEile on Friday 31st October 23:37

[sleep envy]

andy-xr said:

Being the cynical sort I'm of the opinion that there's no way each of the independant councils suddenly thought of their own free will that they'd quite like to stick some money into an Icelandic savings account. They're just not that clever. I'd hazard a guess that there was some guidance on the part of their actions, which turns out to have been, well a bit st

each council will have a finance director who will make decisions where their cash is invested

essex county council are one of the better ones, they have built a number of retail parks throughout the country and office buildings in Soho utilising the funds in their pension accounts

Edited by sleep envy on Friday 31st October 23:44

[Ribol]

insanojackson said:

Why should this be the case?? you all invested your money in OFFSHORE bank accounts so that you would get higher interest on your cash, the government did not make you do it, you voluntarily mover your money out of the UK for your own financial advantage.

I doubt anyone invested in Icesave thinking they were doing anything risky/wrong. The same week it all went down the pan they were still being recommended by the popular "where should you put your money" websites.

Out of interest, would the OP also have objected to the tax contribution these savers would have made had it not gone pear shaped - I doubt it?

[trampagne]

AonFocalEile said:

Got a letter from my mortgage lender last week. Basically said they have to cover part of the cost of the Icelandic banks through the compensation scheme so my mortgage rate was going down by 0.3% and not 0.5%.

So basically I have to pay for someone else’s bad decision on top of the extra I will pay through tax!

Seriously pissed off that my mortgage is higher than it should be because of other peoples investment decisions. Especially as I bet their mortgages are not effected! I pay they don’t, nice.

Edited by AonFocalEile on Friday 31st October 23:37

I'm pissed off because the economy is in ruins due to every man and his dog taking out mortgages and loans, especially as I bet they bh when their rates rise and believe any old spun tale, its just like individual forecourts raising their prices by 11p when the Gulf War began, everything is interlinked ffs. Everything is more expensive than it was because people have used borrowed money instead of working harder and saving.

Edited by trampagne on Saturday 1st November 00:19

[Ribol]

coyft said:

Ribol said:

insanojackson said:

Why should this be the case?? you all invested your money in OFFSHORE bank accounts so that you would get higher interest on your cash, the government did not make you do it, you voluntarily mover your money out of the UK for your own financial advantage.

I doubt anyone invested in Icesave thinking they were doing anything risky/wrong. The same week it all went down the pan they were still being recommended by the popular "where should you put your money" websites.

Out of interest, would the OP also have objected to the tax contribution these savers would have made had it not gone pear shaped - I doubt it?

They were offering rates that were above the base rates and higher than any other UK bank, It doesn't take a genius to work out that they were desperate for cash.

You mean like 116 councils?

[Ribol]

trampagne said:

I'm pissed off because the economy is in ruins due to every man and his dog taking out mortgages and loans, especially as I bet they bh when their rates rise and believe any old spun tale...........

Always easier to blame someone else.

[BJG1]

coyft said:

They were offering rates that were above the base rates and higher than any other UK bank, It doesn't take a genius to work out that they were desperate for cash.

No, but that isn't transparent to the average member of the public either, who will not have much knowledge of how the banking system works, and how to tell which banks could be in trouble. As has been previously mentioned, specialist websites were recommending Icelandic banks right up until their collapse, the public make decisions based on the information freely available to them.

[shalmaneser]

to be fair, it has been clear that Iceland fked for about a year if you know anything about money - why such high interest rates? cos they're desperate for cash of course!

I dumped some money into KT Edge, but kept it under 10K as in knew they were probably going to fold at some point. It's the only sensible thing to do in the circumstances. Anyone with more than that in Iceland was being very short sighted.