Irish Euro vs French Euro

L

Laoisa

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Hi,
am still scrambling to change euros in Irish banks to other currencies. If we revert to the punt will french euro's be ok or would it be wise to change the french euro as well. Any suggestions gratefully accepted. Thanks Laoisa
 
Hi Laoisa, I've done the same, holding about 80% of my cash in 'French' euro. The rest is in Australian Dollars and US Dollars. The rationale behind holding your cash in a particular currency (or soon-to-be-currency) should be that you can use it if worse came to worst. I.e. don't just hold your cash in a particular currency because you think it will outperform the 'Irish' euro. You don't want all of your money in, Australian Dollars for example if you have no tie to the place, even if you think the currency will perform well against the Irish euro, it's just too much of a risk. Despite the fact that France are coming under pressure at the moment, they're still part of the core of the EUR so their currency should remain strong, particularly compared to the punt nua. Hope that helps.
 
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Someone spoke about this to me only last week as it happens and they suggest that what may happen is that all monies may be "repatriated" to the currency of their "owner's" nationality.

This is rank speculation and without any foundation that I could seem but it would be interesting to learn more.
 
Hi ClubMan, sorry for the confusion. Neither, necessarily. A bank with French IBANs, i.e. HSBC aren't French but they have French IBANs. Rabo aren't Irish but they have Irish IBANs. So, in the event of a break-up, the currency would be converted to the national currency of wherever your IBAN falls. When I say 'French' euro, I mean EUR in a French bank a/c but it doesn't have to be a French bank.
 
onq said:
Someone spoke about this to me only last week as it happens and they suggest that what may happen is that all monies may be "repatriated" to the currency of their "owner's" nationality.
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Couldn't be done by nationality. It'd have to be done by residency. And what date would they use to determine residency? Perhaps the date of the conversion itself. But what about corporate accounts? And why punish the saver and save the borrower? Whatever way this plays out, best to have a top financial advisor on speed dial.
 
Interesting idea on the repatriation. I think there's a big logistical headache there. What happens if I'm Irish and I have only 1 bank a/c located in Germany. Where would they repatriate the money to? Could it come to you being forced to open a 'home' bank a/c, eeek, scary. Can you find that idea referenced in the media onq?
 
rekhib said:
Hi ClubMan, sorry for the confusion. Neither, necessarily. A bank with French IBANs, i.e. HSBC aren't French but they have French IBANs. Rabo aren't Irish but they have Irish IBANs. So, in the event of a break-up, the currency would be converted to the national currency of wherever your IBAN falls. When I say 'French' euro, I mean EUR in a French bank a/c but it doesn't have to be a French bank.
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Does anyone know for sure how this would work in the event that Ireland exited the euro currency? Would international banks which have a physical presence here, e.g. Danske(NIB), RBS(ULster Bank) etc, simply convert all your deposits/debts to the punt nua? Would banks which only exist here on the internet, i.e. Rabo, have to do the same? OR would it be that any bank regulated by IFSRA would convert all Irish accounts to the £IR? I strongly suspect that your euro deposits would not be safe in either case. Only euro cash, regrardless of origin, in your wallet or mattress would be safe along with non resident accounts held in other euro zone countries, in my opinion.

In the event that there are exits from the euro, I believe the euro itself would suffer a devaluation, however temporary, against the other international currencies, $ or CHF.
 
ClubMan said:
Where has this been stated?
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It's pure speculation. I don't think there will be much forewarning about how events will play out from the Euro-area governments so getting our hands on concrete facts about how a break-up would ensue is nigh on impossible.

That said, I think the most likely course of action is that deposits will be converted based on where the bank a/c is domiciled, as opposed to the bank, the bank group, the a/c holder or even the a/c holder at the time of transfer. All other options have insurmountable logistical headaches. It's also the only option which wouldn't see swathes of money effectively being 'transferred' between sovereign nations.
 
rekhib said:
That said, I think the most likely course of action is that deposits will be converted based on where the bank a/c is domiciled.
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Where is a bank account domiciled? What is that based on?

Also, they couldn't really go by IBAN, because then all you'd have to do is move it twice. They would hardly go to the trouble and expense of tracing back through all IBANS back to the origin.
 
shnaek said:
Where is a bank account domiciled? What is that based on?
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If your bank a/c's IBAN begins with IE, for example, that would be converted to the new currency of Ireland. If your IBAN begins with FR, that would be converted to France's new currency and so on.

Yes, I agree with your point, tracking back transactions to a point of origin would be a bizarre, costly and ultimately unworkable course of action. Any conversion that takes place has to be at a specific point-in-time.

Not that protecting your wealth isn't a legitimate reason for transferring money to a different state's banking system but there are many legitimate reasons why people and corporations move money across borders. The concept of tracing that money back to where it's 'supposed to be' and then converting it to that country's currency is just nonsensical.
 
Seems to me that this whole thread is about a concept/entity that does not even exist - e.g. a French versus Irish € - and as such seems to be of questionable merit?
 
The thread is about protecting your deposits in the event that there was a break-up of the Eurozone. Shouldn't the merit of a particular thread be judged by the OP?
 
Its a good question poorly phrased.

I agree with the above. Where ever the account is opened is where it will transfer to whatever is new currency. If it's Rabo opened in Ireland then it's in Ireland. If it's HSBC in France its in France. There is no way on earth it could be broken down to anything else unless they pass some new mad euro legislation or directive. Right now they have bigger fish to fry..
 
rekhib said:
If your bank a/c's IBAN begins with IE, for example, that would be converted to the new currency of Ireland. If your IBAN begins with FR, that would be converted to France's new currency and so on.

Yes, I agree with your point, tracking back transactions to a point of origin would be a bizarre, costly and ultimately unworkable course of action. Any conversion that takes place has to be at a specific point-in-time.

Not that protecting your wealth isn't a legitimate reason for transferring money to a different state's banking system but there are many legitimate reasons why people and corporations move money across borders. The concept of tracing that money back to where it's 'supposed to be' and then converting it to that country's currency is just nonsensical.
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This is already starting. If it can happen with Swiss accounts for Greek residents, it can happen for German accounts for Irish residents.

h t t p : / / w w w . z e r o h e d g e . c o m /contributed/capital-flight-and-forced-repatriation

If the euro breaks up, all bets are off lads. Capital controls and repatriation (i.e. forced conversion at a set rate and date) will happen. My guess is that it will be based on the residency of the account holder.
 
I'm just keeping all the notes I have that their serial number start with a Z, cos they are apparently German euro notes. So if the euro goes I'll have their currency. :D
 
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