Which are the safest UK banks with little exposure to the sub-prime malarky?

Question

I've worked too hard to have my money disappear overnight by a shock overnight bank collapse.

I always thought The Royal Bank of Scotland was safe, and still do sort of.... but now I'm wondering cause I'm sure they went shopping and bought US banks/lenders a while back.

Are there any banks with loadsa cash, strong asset sheet, few dodgy bad loans on their books ect... where it's safest for money.

HSBC worries me cause of all that World Bank stuff.... makes me think they are exposed to risks in every country and what would happen in there was a run on deposits in like HSBC accounts in Singapore or France or whatever, as I'm sure that would affect UK depositers standing too.

BTW - I'm going out now with my Mum... will have to check for answers (and thumbs up good ones) when I get back in 2 hours. Thanks.

Answer 1

Don't worry, you money is not going to disappear.
All banks which have been following the Central Banks' (i.e. BoE) guidelines are covered.
And a requirement has been for then to take out insurance against such a collapse.
So the man on the street will not lose any money, investing in one of the household name banks.
Numerically, that is.

In real terms, the value of your money i.e. the currency may go down, but everyone suffers equally.
As the Irish Republic used to say, "We may bnot be rich, but at least we're all equally poor".

But of course in reality, some are more equal than others.

The point you have to remember is that the money being lent to sub-prime borrowers was not real.
It was based mainly on securities and bonds coming from East Asia i.e. it was just a promise of money.
As long as no one actually spent it i.e. the guys you paid a stupid price for you new house "invested" it wisely in another stupidly priced house, everyone was happy.

But the source of all this virtual money is of course the 3 trillion or dollars that the US Fed has been printing since 1971.
So the problem now is actually with all the foreign companies and banks trying to "invest" in the USA, saying "hey look, we've got a fistful of dollars here; what can we buy ?"
The fact is, they can't buy anything real without making the american economy very unhappy, which is the source of the collapse.

Change to "Social Credit"

Answer 2

All the banks are dependant on each other and if one sneezes they all catcha cold. This was started by the French banks being unable to place a value on certain funds they hold, which scared the Americans made evryone look at there lending procedures.

The true valus of losses may not be kknown for a long time yet, so batten down the hatches its going to get worse before its gets better. Frankly i think its extremely irresponsible of these baks to lend money knowing that the credit history of the loan taker is so iffy.

Answer 3

Of course not. The banks and other lending institutions used the lure of adjustable mortgage rates and other fuzzy math, extra cash and initial, lower monthly rates to entice homeowners to forget the ol' adage - "if it sounds too good to be true........." For the first time in history, many homeowners are presently burdened with a mortgage that exceeds the value of their home. Some asset, eh? It's referred to as "negative equity" - pretty common in the automobile sector - owing more for a car than it's worth is commonplace - homes, however, have been pretty much immune to this phenomenon - until recently. I, fortunately, was not sucked into this scam - and my reward is simple - I, and everyone else who was fiscally responsible, will now have to bail out the companies and the consumers with their taxes. No one ever claimed that life was fair, eh?

Answer 4

You will be fine......they will all catch a cold but ride the storm as usual..........any debts they will write off over a period of time within their balance sheets......remember the boys from South America??
The real issue with lending is how irresponsible many of them have been over the past 10 years - many loans being granted riding off the back of related insurance products.
They have moved from granted a loan after credit reviews and income/expenditure analysis to 'selling' a loan based on how much insurance payment protection being taken with other related insurance products.
'Sellers' and 'Lenders' are two different animals.

Answer 5

They are all in the same boat.But don't worry about your money.It is safe.In fact we in the UK will be better off for what is
happening.In future banks will not be willing to write of investments we account holders pay for.Billions are written off
just to be able to have money in China for example.Inflation
there is very high but these investments keep it at an artificial
figure.When they go.Then is the time to worry.

Answer 6

Nobody knows where the biggest debts lie and thats the problem, everyone is suspicious of each other that is causing the short term illquidity and that is why northern rock had to lend from the BOE.

i wouldnt worry to much though

Answer 7

None of the big UK banks are going to suffer badly and customers shouldn't have any problems (except maybe certain charges or interest rates being increased)

Answer 8

Stupid boy by name stupid boy by nature