JERSEY’S banks are safe, says the Island’s Treasury Minister Senator Terry Le Sueur.
He told businesses this week that even if one of the banking groups was in dire straits, the government of the parent company would not allow the Jersey branch to go under.
The minister was guest speaker at a seminar on the new zero/ten tax arrangements. However, several questioners were more concerned about their savings. ‘All banks in Jersey are in the top 500 and the majority are in the top 100. Their host country would not let them fail,’ said Senator Le Sueur. ‘The risk of any going belly-up is virtually non-existent.’
He said that this was not the policy in Guernsey, where a branch of Icelandic bank Landsbanki has gone into administration. Jersey residents with deposits there are still waiting to know what will happen to their savings.
On Wednesday Chief Minister Frank Walker sought to assure Islanders that their savings deposits would be guaranteed should anything similar happen to a bank in this Island. But Senator Le Sueur said he did not think that the States of Jersey would be called on to pay out any such guarantees.
He said that because most of the money deposited in Jersey was funnelled through the City of London, the chances were that any depositor protection arrangements put in place by the UK government would be extended to Island branches – as happened earlier this year in Guernsey, which had a branch of Northern Rock.
Senator Le Sueur said that similar extensions to guarantees had applied during the 1970s.
Article posted on 10th October, 2008 - 3.00pm
13 Article Comments
What a stupidly idiotic statement to make.
I expect nothing less from one of our ignorant, time wasting, useless ministers.
When the sun stops shining it soon becomes very apparent that many of our politicians are clueless.
I think Senator Terry Le Sueur should recognise that he doesn’t have what it takes to do the job when the going gets rough.
His statement would be a lot more believable if Iceland was not effectively bankrupt as a nation.
Like it or lump it, Jersey is only a bit player in the world of international finance.
The real decisions are being made by the central banks that contol hundreds of billions.
All Jersey can hope for is that when the storm dies down it is still all in one piece financially, its ability to control the outcome is nil.
I think the fact that Frank Walker said that Jersey peoples money would be guaranteed if anything went wrong should stand.
The same assurance given to Kaupthing Edge IOM by the Icelandic government? Do you ever read the International Financial Press, Senator?
Now who to believe?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/oct/11/savings-banks3
I wonder whether the UK depositors will be reading The Guardian or JEP?
As we are all being told; this crisis is a crisis of confidence. Articles like this in The Guardian do little for the confidence depositors will have in Jersey. I hope our Politicians will respond to the article - in the National Media (not just the JEP) to help alleviate concerns of UK depositors
Does anybody really think Jersey is going to be saved by those nice guys in London and New York who, as they pack up their desks and send back their Bentleys, will do everything in their power to make sure Jersey remains unscathed? If so, I fully expect to see Senator Le Sueur sitting in the middle of St. Aubin’s Bay this evening, succeeding in turning back the tide where King Cnut failed. Four days to Election Day - make every shot count.
Friends in the banking industry have advised me that millions of pounds have been transferred out of Jeresy in the last week as investors seek safer havens for their money - the ‘banks’ may very well be safe according to Mt Le |Sueur - but individual depositors are not leaving their savings to chance in offshore juridstictions and I don’t blame them! This of course will have a knock on effect in Jersey, markets etc will calm down but the reputations of offshore banks has had a severe battering and it will take YEARS to recover! On a separate issue staff in our Banks are under extreme pressure as hundreds of people are calling in to compain and voice their concers, and transfer their money away!
what I am amazed at is the lack of any real reporting in this newspaper with regards the safety of deposit accounts for overseas residents. where are the interviews with bank managers?!? are the mainland banks going to cover and support their Jersey branches? Jersey’s reputation and economy depends entirely on overseas depositors and I have daily check out the papers web sight to be sourly disappointed in its coverage. There must be millions leaving the Island’s banks and the paper doesn’t comment!!!
“No icebergs here!” cried the lookout on the Titanic. Seriously though as a retiree in Thailand I am waiting for my fixed deposit account to mature (not manure) in december and I will transfer it to a bank that gives me piece of mind. Strangest thing is, two years ago I told everyone that I was leaving my money in Jersey as it seemed a lot safer than the banks in SE Asia.
“the chances were”
How reasurring!
Titantic is a good comparison! I can imagine Walker and Le Sueur standing on the roof of the States building humming a long to this theme as Jersey hits the coast of France as it sinks.
If Jersey States are only going to guarantee the deposits of their own Islanders, how can they complain that Guernsey is not guaranteeing the deposits of Jersey residents. Are there not enough banks in Jersey who could have taken the deposits at good rates or was the money being kept offshore of an offshore island for any reason?