23 replies to this topic

[Saint Billinge]

It's been reported that the government in Cyprus is going to 'raid' people's savings in an effort to stabilise their economy. Whether right or wrong, it doesn't look good for those who have simply put aside for retirement. This is a never ending nightmare across the world brought upon by greed and mismanagement.

[Derwent]

The government in Cyprus didn't have much choice, the French & German governments have imposed it as a condition to them getting a £10 billion bailout. People with less than €100,000 will pay a one-off 6.7% levy and those with more will pay 9.9% on deposits. It's estimated that ~40% of money in the Cypriot banking system is owned by foreigners and Russians in particular, with it long being thought that Cyprus is the heart of money laundering for the Russian mafia.

[JohnM]

It's just that Cyprus is late into this game of stealing from people's savings, eh, Gordon Brown (and others.) last week finally got a measly 20% redress for the huge damage that Despicable Strife did to my occupational pension.

[Saint Billinge]

The government in Cyprus didn't have much choice, the French & German governments have imposed it as a condition to them getting a £10 billion bailout. People with less than €100,000 will pay a one-off 6.7% levy and those with more will pay 9.9% on deposits. It's estimated that ~40% of money in the Cypriot banking system is owned by foreigners and Russians in particular, with it long being thought that Cyprus is the heart of money laundering for the Russian mafia.

Whatever, innocent people who have strived to save up will be dealt another blow. Meanwhile, bankers are still receiving eye-watering bonuses. I just wonder if those responsible for all the financail scandals actually paid back bonuses?

[my missus]

there was a bloke on the news said even his 11 month old child faced having his small savings account robbed

[JohnM]

its unjust...but then there ain't no justice. And is it really true that 11 month old kids are included?

as far as ex pats are concerned. many went to escape the high cost of uk living, to avoid uk income tax on pensions possibly, because property is cheaper there, and to get good weather. Gotta take the rough wit the smooth. Just like we have here when Gordon Brown said he'd abolished boom and bust.

Anyway, the alternative for the Cypriots, country bankruptcy, might actually be worse.

Edited by JohnM, 17 March 2013 - 08:26 PM.

[Li0nhead]

What a lot are forgetting is they do have an alternative.
Don't accept the bailout.

It makes you really wonder how bad things must really be if they have accepted these conditions of the bailout.
Also this headline grabber means the media will be concentrating on this and the things lower down in the small print will not have been analysed by them fully so it would not surprise if there are a few more things hidden in there.

I am starting to think the decision not to go into the Euro by successive govts from the 90s to 2008 may be turning out to be one of the best post war decisions of any govt and this from someone who had a 'go in one day but not yet' opinion in the early 2000s.

[guess who]

Its legalished robbery. Yet the people who caused all of this are getting away with it.

[JohnM]

same as in the UK. Gordon Brown been arrested yet? Or any other politician of any party who has robbed me of a damned sight more than 10% of my savings?

[markleeds]

Have any of the traders in the city been arrested for what was/is effectively fraud?

[John Drake]

It's an odd way to 'stabilise' an economy by sending out a signal across an entire continent that your money is not safe in your bank account. Who could blame anyone in Cyprus or elsewhere now for queuing up outside their bank to get their money out at the earliest possible opportunity to store it under the bed in future.

[MikeW]

Where better to go for austerity measures than the savers in the banks? How many Russians are going to be affected by a 40% cut in healthcare spending, schools or welfare? It's very nice to blame the bankers, it is to a large extent their fault but from a practical level it doesn't really help. Cyprus, for all it's EU credentials, is still a tinpot island doubling as a money laundering operation.

[Severus]

same as in the UK. Gordon Brown been arrested yet? Or any other politician of any party who has robbed me of a damned sight more than 10% of my savings?

What happened in your case?

[JohnM]

1. Equitable Life.from 1980s onwards both the company and the regulators failed in thier duty. see http://en.wikipedia....surance_Society there was an arguable case that the Equitable had breached the rules of its former regulators, the Life Assurance and Unit Trust Regulatory Organisation (Lautro) and the Personal Investment Authority (PIA)

2. Back in 1997, while Mr Brown was scheming to plunder private pensions for about £5 billion a year, he was warned in the clearest possible terms by the Inland Revenue that the proposed raid would "make a big hole in pension scheme finances", creating a shortfall of up to £75 billion. See here for example this resulted in occupational pension schemes reassessing their liabilities and revising downwards their pension projections, the closure of final salary schemes etc. one of my privat pensions i paid into is now promising me 74 pence a year!!

3. The great endowment scandal http://www.guardian....-cash-endowment

4. I was not affected by the PPI mis-selling scandal, though.

tossers one and all. the Cypriots are lucky! At least they'll get compensated with bank shares!!

Edited by JohnM, 18 March 2013 - 12:08 PM.

[Saint Billinge]

1. Equitable Life.from 1980s onwards both the company and the regulators failed in thier duty. see http://en.wikipedia....surance_Society there was an arguable case that the Equitable had breached the rules of its former regulators, the Life Assurance and Unit Trust Regulatory Organisation (Lautro) and the Personal Investment Authority (PIA)

2. Back in 1997, while Mr Brown was scheming to plunder private pensions for about £5 billion a year, he was warned in the clearest possible terms by the Inland Revenue that the proposed raid would "make a big hole in pension scheme finances", creating a shortfall of up to £75 billion. See here for example this resulted in occupational pension schemes reassessing their liabilities and revising downwards their pension projections, the closure of final salary schemes etc. one of my privat pensions i paid into is now promising me 74 pence a year!!

3. The great endowment scandal http://www.guardian....-cash-endowment

4. I was not affected by the PPI mis-selling scandal, though.

tossers one and all. the Cypriots are lucky! At least they'll get compensated with bank shares!!

As an IFA at the time, the FSA made it quite plain that we had to recommend Equitable Life (non-paying commission firm) unless we could fully justify otherwise. This, along with other financial issues, left the FSA totally embarrassed. Yet they are immune from being taken to task!

As for the savings 'raid', it will send a clear message across the world that your savings are not even secure in a bank in certain countries.

[chuffer]

It's an odd way to 'stabilise' an economy by sending out a signal across an entire continent that your money is not safe in your bank account. Who could blame anyone in Cyprus or elsewhere now for queuing up outside their bank to get their money out at the earliest possible opportunity to store it under the bed in future.

My thoughts exactly...by signalling their intentions, the Cypriate govt will now see all their banks emptied over the next few days.....good move?

[MikeW]

My thoughts exactly...by signalling their intentions, the Cypriate govt will now see all their banks emptied over the next few days.....good move?

Where does a Russian oligarch move billions of dirty cash to that quickly?

[chuffer]

Tory party donation?

[Northern Sol]

This is but a small, small fraction of what it would look like if we hadn't bailed out the banks.

[Methven Hornet]

My thoughts exactly...by signalling their intentions, the Cypriate govt will now see all their banks emptied over the next few days.....good move?

Haven't they stopped transfers?