Will the Greek Economy put Finans Bank at Risk

[tribalelder]

As it seems the Greek Government is in deep financial Doodoo at the moment how secure are Greek banks?  I am asking the question particularly in respect of The National Bank of Greece and their large financial involvement with Finans Bank.  Is it time to take your money and run[?]

[Ian]

Brian - good point - who knows - but a topic that is sure to spark debate and PANICCCCCCCCCCCC  

To see the scale of the governments borrowings see:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2009-12-24/greek-default-beats-bailout-lehman-lesson-shows-mark-gilbert.html

Ian  

[Ovacikpeedoff]

Yes the Greek economy is in trouble and is debt ridden. The EU has ordered the Greek government to severely cut the deficit over the next 3 years and it is going to cause much pain.It is also going to be direct ECB involvement in the production of the statistics on how the economy is performing and not reliance on the very dubious figures produced by the Greek government in the past.  There have been rumors that Goldman Sachs have been negotiating with the Bank of China to buy an equity stake in the National bank of Greece. This has been denied today.

If you look at the Reuters financial pages today they are recommending investors to purchase equity in the National Bank of Greece. The fact that Reuters are recommending investment in the bank it should give a certain amount of comfort but it is not a guarantee that the bank will not go under. Also EU involvement in the management of the Greek economy should also give some comfort.  

One solution to manage risk is to consider not having all your eggs in the one basket. I understand, like the UK and most other countries, the Turkish government will only guarantee a certain amount that is deposited in a financial institution. So if your money is spread around several financial institutions then your risk is spread and if there was a major crisis in the Turkish banking sector. For example if someone had 100K TL and the guarantee is 10K having all your money in one bank then you would lose 90k. If you had 10k in ten different banks then you are covered in the event of a major crash.

Anyone of the banks in Fethiye should be able to tell you what the current limits are.

[patch]

does anyone know what the limit is as regards howmuch of your money is safe with finans .

[tribalelder]

50000TL and 100000TL for a joint account in total for all accounts with that bank.

[tribalelder]

The Guarantee is all very comforting but bear in mind if the worst scenario happened your account would be frozen and it could be a very long time before you would gain access to it again:(

[BM06]

if you do not have to rely on a monthly account, government bonds are a much safer way, you are issued with a certificate that the Turkish government guarantees 3 6 12 months slightly lower than the monthly interest account but piece of mind, does sound a bit worrying though.

[Diverbaz 1]

If you have an account with say Finans and with a Greek bank associated with Finans, you will only get one payout if they go down, not a payout from each bank. So if you spread your money around the banks, ensure they are not linked.

[nichola]

I think this article is still relevant and may offer some reassurance as the Finansbank seems to be a profitable part of the Greek Bank.

However it also seems a sensible idea to spread the cash around for those that can...

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24129619/National-Bank-of-Greece-s-Fate-is-Closely-Tied-to-Its-Home-Country-s-Credit-Worthiness

[tribalelder]

Very interesting article but it throws up too many grey areas to give me much reassurance even though the overall tone of the article seems to say "Don't worry too much folks"

Whilst this subject must affect a large number of Forum members I am surprised so few have any particular thoughts on such an important matter. Like you are relying on your interest. "What do you do if that interest dries up?"