Protection against government raiding deposits???

what about investments

if deposits could be seized then surely investments which are fairly liquid could also be in danger, however when you think about it i dont think the government could really go down this road even in a doomsday scenario, severe cutbacks in public expenditure would actually be more acceptable even to public sector workers many of whom have substantial deposits, maybe a 10% levy on all liquid assets would be as far as it would go.

If the Irish govt do go after deposits over seas, how EXACTLY will they do that? How will they trace and track them? Will it be by your PPS number? Your Irish passport number or Irish drivers license that I presume you will have to produce to open a back account over seas? Will they make Irish banks disclose who how and where people transferred monies out of Ireland?

I have dual Irish and American citizenship. I have have savings accounts in both counties. I have a home in both countries. If I went up to the North and opened a non resident account in the Ulster Bank using all of my American info (American address, passport, drivers license etc etc) and then transferred the monies from my Irish savings account, how exactly could the Irish government come after me for their slice of my savings pie?

( Transferring the monies to the US is not an option btw, not if I want to keep on earning interest. Interest rates on savings accounts over there is next to nothing )

L0llip0p,

No agrument from me ...just trying to understand the position ... surely if you owe 150k euro and ireland switches back to punts ...the bank would not work on a one for one exchange on that date , if the did they would take a massave loss because they borrowed euro on the international markets and must re-pay 150k euro...would they not be pushing the exchange loss onto the mortgage holder ...???

Any views ...am i wrong on this one ...hope so...???

But the point monagt that Brendan made is your loot is no safer in Irish banks than it is in branches of foreign banks based here, or even in some banks abroad - should the Irish government decide to raid them. But it's very unlikely that they will.

Safest place to put ones savings ...??? Opinions

1. Outside the Euro ( USD / STG / AUD / CAD / etc )
2. Deposited in one of the strong Euro countries (Germany)
3. Commodities (Gold / Oil / etc)
4. Lumpsum paid off Mortgage.
5. Spend it now on things you'll definately need in the future, that way its outside the reach of Levys or currency risk.

Personally i'm leaning towards 4 & 5 above.

Mr McWilliams likes to constantly draw comparisons with the current events and those in Argentina all those years ago.
His summary of the events (as I recall) is that when Argentina did default, those who had moved their deposits and funds to the US did not have them seized whereas poor Diego and Cristina in Buenos Aires had their money frozen and devalued because they had their money in the local bank.

He never mentioned the Argentinian government going after deposits abroad. Indeed he points to the fact that those people who put their money abroad became richer (relatively speaking) and what happened next was that Argentina saw a greater influx of investment, job creation and growth based on these people returning their money to Argentina and using it to set up business etc etc.

I guess the question is....why are we so sure its possible for the Irish Government to go after our money abroad when Argentina didnt try this even though they were in dire straits and our lot can't even tackle their own public sector!! There isnt a precedent for this, is there?

I'd be guessing a mix of 1,2,3 (eggs not all in one basket) would minimise your risk.

You and I can agree on nuttin eh Codology?

Perhaps i'm to Risk Adverse...

If your mortgage is with KBC you can over pay a lump sum up to the value of your mortgage and get it back with 24 hours notice. I think other lenders have similar facilities..

of course, if you could time it correctly and put your euros into an off shore euro account and let your mortgage go into an punt nua then you would be sorted =D

DXB said:

If your mortgage is with KBC you can over pay a lump sum up to the value of your mortgage and get it back with 24 hours notice.

Click to expand...

First I had heard of this. Does anyone know what other banks will agree to this?

It would certainly make for a simple solution re. the short/medium term risk of deposits being raided....without having to commit funds towards mortgage permanently.

Thanks for that

The more I read about what options are out there with regards moving savings outside the country etc (and all the different difficulties that go with it with tax issues, access to it etc), the more I think maybe I should just withdraw my savings and keep it in cash…….maybe not under the mattress but somewhere in hard cash where I can physically keep an eye on it!!! Does this sound crazy or is it a serious option to consider??

However, in the worst case scenario of Ireland defaulting and reverting back to the punt nua, I presume my physical euros could not be touched by the government??

At the moment the risk seems more to the very existence of the Euro than Ireland leaving it!

Is it more of an option to join the sterling rather than resort to the punt? we are the uks biggest trading partner and they have a lot to lose if we default. there was talk of it earlier in the year./ personally i would be in favour of this