With the present financial situation being so prominent in world news events,
it is normal for depositors to show a level of concern about the security of
their deposits.
Whilst Gibraltar is well positioned to withstand most of the current events,
depositors should be aware of the existence of deposit protection arrangements
that would come into play should there be a failure of a bank.
The Gibraltar Deposit Protection Scheme covers 90% of a bank's total
liability to a depositor, subject to a maximum payment to any one individual of
£18,000 (or EURO 20,000, if greater). A bank's total liability to a depositor is
the aggregate of all accounts in the name of that depositor, including the depositor's share in a joint account or a
client account. Joint accounts are normally divided equally between account holders.
Full details of the scheme are available from
www.gdgb.gi.
It should be noted that a number of deposit-takers operating in Gibraltar, do
so as branches of UK banks or building societies. In these cases, the deposits
are covered by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme (details from
www.fscs.org.uk). The branches whose
deposits are covered by the UK scheme are:
- Barclays Bank PLC
- Leeds Building Society
- Lloyds TSB Bank plc
- Newcastle Building Society
- Norwich & Peterborough Building Society
Deposits with all other banks are covered by the Gibraltar scheme. The FSC
would like to reassure the general public that it is closely monitoring
developments in the financial markets and does not expect these arrangements to
have to be brought into effect.