http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/ Are your savings covered 100% by the FSA £35k guarantee? en http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/update_oct08 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/update_oct08 No relevant changes. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/summary http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/summary We've added a new page to the website which lists all the recent bank mergers, takeovers and failures. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/icesaveprocess http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/icesaveprocess The FSCS has announced the process by which savers will get their money back from Icesave. Customers should receive a letter from the FSCS shortly explaining the process. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/barnsley http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/barnsley The Barnsley Building Society is to be taken over by the Yorkshire Building Society, following its exposure to two Icelandic banks. Following the merger, the Barnsley's deposits will be covered under the Yorkshire's FSA deposit taking licence. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/ing http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/ing From the BBC's report: "Dutch banking and insurance company ING is to receive a 10bn euro ($13.4bn; £7.7bn) government cash injection. The deal was agreed with the finance ministry and the central bank, which will give the government shares in ING. ... ING Direct also took over responsibility for £2.5bn of deposits of 160,000 UK customers with the Icelandic bank Kaupthing Edge - part of Iceland's largest bank, which failed almost two weeks ago. " rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Sun, 19 Oct 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/recapitalisation http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/recapitalisation From the announcement on the FSA's consumer website http://www.moneymadeclear.gov.fsa.gov.uk: "On 8 October the UK government announced a new package of measures to protect savers and support the UK’s banking industry. As part of those measures, the government has announced today that it is going to buy newly issued shares in RBS and also HBOS and Lloyds TSB, when their merger is complete, to provide these banks with more funds to run their businesses. Customers of RBS, HBOS and Lloyds TSB will not be affected by these announcements today. You can continue to use all of your banking facilities, to withdraw cash and access your accounts. Banking facilities will be open for business as usual, with branches, internet and call centres operating as normal. Mortgage and loan customers’ terms and conditions remain the same and you should continue to make repayments as usual. " rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/heritable http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/heritable From the HM Treasury announcement: "The FSA has determined that Heritable no longer meets its threshold conditions, and is likely to be unable to continue to meet its obligations to depositors. The FSA concluded that it is in default for the purposes of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.....Heritable’s retail deposit business has been transferred to ING Direct, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ING Group.....The remainder of Heritable’s business has been put into administration. Any retail depositors eligible to claim under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme whose business has not been transferred to ING will be paid out in full through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme." rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/kaupthing http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/kaupthing The FSA declares Kaupthing in default and orders the retail Kaupthing Edge savings accounts to be sold to ING Direct. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/icesave_guarantee http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/icesave_guarantee Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has said that he will ensure that all retail depositors in Icesave will get all their money back, despite the Icelandic government saying that they will not stand behind their own guarantee. From the HM Treasury announcement: "no retail depositor will lose any money as a result of the closure of Icesave." rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/icesave http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/icesave From the FSA's consumer website (http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk): "Icesave is no longer processing new deposits or withdrawal requests from customers. If, as expected, the Icelandic authorities put the firm into insolvency proceedings this would trigger a default under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). In this case, savers with Icesave could make a claim to get their money back." rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/50klimit http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/50klimit Customers with joint accounts will be eligible to claim up to £100,000. Hector Sants, FSA's chief executive officer, said: "There has been extensive debate about the compensation levels. In the interests of providing clarity over the minimum level for the long term we have now decided to implement the move to a GBP 50,000 limit from Tuesday." The new limit comes into effect on Tuesday 7th October 2008. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/bandb_080930 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/bandb_080930 "The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced today that Bradford and Bingley's mortgage business is being brought into public ownership while its savings division including its branches are transferred to Abbey National, part of Spanish banking group Santander." rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_0809 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_0809 No relevant changes. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/lloydshbos http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/lloydshbos Lloyds TSB announced their intention to acquire HBOS in an all-share deal. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/cheshire http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/cheshire Nationwide announces their intention to merge with the Cheshire and Derbyshire Building Societies. The transactions are expected to conclude by the end of the calendar year. There will be no payout to Cheshire or Derbyshire members. The Nationwide will keep the Cheshire and Derbyshire brands and branch networks. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_0808 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_0808 Added Access Bank UK Limited; Added Powszechna Kasa Oszczednosci Bank Polski SA; Deleted Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo; Changed name of Erste Bank der Oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG to Erste Group Bank AG. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Sun, 31 Aug 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_080817 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_080817 Changes this month: added Yorkshire Bank; changed Bank of New York to Bank of New York Mellon; changed Mellon Bank NA to BNY Mellon NA rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_080714 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_080714 Changes this month: changed name of the Bank of New York Europe Ltd to the Bank of New York Mellon (International) Limited rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/allianceandleicester http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/allianceandleicester Banco Santander and Alliance and Leicester announces that they have agreed terms for a takeover of the Alliance and Leicester bank. After the takeover completes, Banco Santander intend to maining Alliance and Leicester as a separate brand, with its own FSA registration. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/fsaproposal_080701 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/fsaproposal_080701 Alistair Darling has put forward proposals to improve the protection offered to depositors. The guarantee on deposits is expected to rise from £35k to £50k. The proposals are now in a consultation period; changes are expected to take place in late 2008 or early 2009. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_080601 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_080601 Changes this month: none. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_080507 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_080507 Changes this month: added Gatehouse Bank plc; deleted Goldfish Bank Limited, Northern Bank Executor & Trustee Company Ltd. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_080428 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/changes_080428 Users of the "How Safe is Your Money?" website asked for a "Quick Check" facility so they could quickly lookup a bank FSA registration number and other trading names. This is now available. Other suggestions and comments welcome! rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/motleyfool_080326 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/motleyfool_080326 "How Safe is Your Money?" is referenced by Motley Fool UK in their article "Why Your Savings Might Be Unsafe". rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/northernrock_nationalised http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/northernrock_nationalised The UK Government brings forward legislation to take Northern Rock plc into "a period of temporary public ownership". rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:00 GMT http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/fsa_increase_071001 http://www.howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk/blog/fsa_increase_071001 The Financial Services Authority increases the compensation limit for deposits to 100%% of the first 35,000 GBP. This will affect claims relating to companies that go into default from 1 October 2007. rachel@howsafeisyourmoney.co.uk Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:00 GMT