# Is your money safe in Spanish banks?



## Eamon

In the UK, the first £85,000 of your cash is protected in case bank goes bust...what are the rules here?


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## mrypg9

Is it £85k? I thought it was £50k.
Best to have offshore accounts.


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## Eamon

mrypg9 said:


> Is it £85k? I thought it was £50k.
> Best to have offshore accounts.


As of Jan 1st 2011 (apparently)....If anyone knows Spanish banking rules, let me know...I will try Google too


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## Eamon

Found this FGD Fondos de Garantía de Depósitos but other places mention only 20K Euros per person is guaranteed?


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## mrypg9

Eamon said:


> Found this FGD Fondos de Garantía de Depósitos but other places mention only 20K Euros per person is guaranteed?


It's too easy for your Spanish account to be blocked/frozen by the powers-that-be if you get involved in a dispute with the authorities. I know of two people who've been unable to access accounts held in Spanish banks.
We keep our investments in the UK and offshore and just keep a working amount of money in our Spanish accounts.
We keep an eye on sterling exchange rates and buy euros when the rate is good.
You can usually have accounts in several currencies offshore and in some Spanish banks.


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## xabiaxica

Eamon said:


> As of Jan 1st 2011 (apparently)....If anyone knows Spanish banking rules, let me know...I will try Google too


yes you're right

I asked my OH about Spain - thinking he'd know

he googled & came up with this from 2008 - nothing more recent



> The Spanish government has set up a €5 billion fund to
> enhance retail deposit guarantee protection through
> the increase of its bank deposit and investment
> guarantees to €100,000 up from €20,000, double the
> minimum base set by the ECOFIN. Such amount is
> guaranteed per bank deposit/investment holder and
> entity.



from here http://www.dlapiper.com/files/upload/DLA_Piper_EMEA_Govt_Rescue_Plan_EMEA_Govt_Rescue_Plan_Spain_1_Dec.PDF


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## xabiaxica

Eamon said:


> Found this FGD Fondos de Garantía de Depósitos but other places mention only 20K Euros per person is guaranteed?


that's out of date I think - see my last post


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## Laz

mrypg9 said:


> It's too easy for your Spanish account to be blocked/frozen by the powers-that-be if you get involved in a dispute with the authorities. I know of two people who've been unable to access accounts held in Spanish banks.
> We keep our investments in the UK and offshore and just keep a working amount of money in our Spanish accounts.
> We keep an eye on sterling exchange rates and buy euros when the rate is good.
> You can usually have accounts in several currencies offshore and in some Spanish banks.


Hi,

Can you recommend an offshore bank for keeping investments?
Thanks in advance,

Laz


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## mrypg9

Laz said:


> Hi,
> 
> Can you recommend an offshore bank for keeping investments?
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Laz


I would never recommend a bank or other financial institution. Everyone's requirements are different so you have to do your homework.
What I would say is I have had bad experiences with some aspects of Lloyds Offshore and my partner, who has invested money in Lloyds Offshore funds, has also little good to say of their administrative competence.


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## country boy

We are now with the Leeds in Jersey ( via Gibraltar), they have seemed very steady over the years and we are getting a good rate annually. ( obtained a few years ago, not that high at pres tho!). We were with Santander because they got our dosh via a takeover....what a load of shysters they turned out be...Beware!!


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## gus-lopez

The EU bank guarantee is 100,000 euros per account holder. The Uk limit had to be raised to £85,000 due to the fall in the exchange rate.


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## owdoggy

50,000? ….85,000? …..Our money is quite safe in Spanish banks so it would seem because when we came over here two & a half years ago I said to Mrs Doggy that this is now our time so let’s just get it spent & enjoy ourselves. 

We have been quite successful in this respect so now if our bank goes down the toobs….. we ain’t gonna loose much 

No worries


Doggy


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## VFR

owdoggy said:


> 50,000? ….85,000? …..Our money is quite safe in Spanish banks so it would seem because when we came over here two & a half years ago I said to Mrs Doggy that this is now our time so let’s just get it spent & enjoy ourselves.
> 
> We have been quite successful in this respect so now if our bank goes down the toobs….. we ain’t gonna loose much
> 
> No worries
> 
> 
> Doggy


Yup same here Doggy. 

Mind you when we sell the house ours will be going out of Spain (that could take a good few years mind)


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## Pesky Wesky

owdoggy said:


> 50,000? ….85,000? …..Our money is quite safe in Spanish banks so it would seem because when we came over here two & a half years ago I said to Mrs Doggy that this is now our time so let’s just get it spent & enjoy ourselves.
> 
> We have been quite successful in this respect so now if our bank goes down the toobs….. we ain’t gonna loose much
> 
> No worries
> 
> 
> Doggy


Glad some people have got no worries!

For some of us our days of spend spend spend are a way down the line yet. Just hope I get there - but will my money still be there when I want it?


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## jeremyinspain

Yes, it's 100,000 euros in Spanish banks.
is your money safe in a UK bank?


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## nigele2

jeremyinspain said:


> Yes, it's 100,000 euros in Spanish banks.
> is your money safe in a UK bank?


Yes up to £50000 and £85000 next year. The reason it may not be safe in a Spanish bank is the security is offered by the government of a bankrupt country that has no ability to print money. The UK can resolve the problem easily.


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## thrax

mrypg9 said:


> I would never recommend a bank or other financial institution. Everyone's requirements are different so you have to do your homework.
> What I would say is I have had bad experiences with some aspects of Lloyds Offshore and my partner, who has invested money in Lloyds Offshore funds, has also little good to say of their administrative competence.


Totally agree, never ever recommend a bank to anyone. But I would never run a bank down, it's immoral and quite wrong so shame on you. Having said that, I hate Lloyds and Santander, the two of those crooked institutions having lost us over €35,000 for a number of reasons. And I read today that Santander are likely to charge you an extraordinary APR if you happen to go as much as €1 overdrawn without their permission. Even if it was down to their own error. 819,100% I kid you not. So whatever you do, don't run down banks. Only the crooked ones.


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## Guest

Put it into an Australian Bank interest at 6.5% governmet guaranteed at $1,000,000 per account I'm with the Commenwealth Bank of Australia all the banks in Oz are giving the same interest rate, 

Robert


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## Guest

*put your money into an Australian account ( Guaranteed )*

Put it into an Australian Bank interest at 6.5% governmet guaranteed at $1,000,000 per account I'm with the Commenwealth Bank of Australia all the banks in Oz are giving the same interest rate, 

Robert


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## xgarb

Except $AUS are very expensive at the moment for people holding Sterling and if the exchange rate goes back anywhere near what it was a couple of years ago (admittedly not likely any-time soon) bringing that money back will be a huge loss.


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## mickcarol

Eamon said:


> In the UK, the first £85,000 of your cash is protected in case bank goes bust...what are the rules here?


I was speaking to the Manager of my Bank ( Banco de Valencia) the other day and he said that the first €100,000 is 100 per cent safe. After that, who knows??


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## Guest

Laz said:


> Hi,
> 
> Can you recommend an offshore bank for keeping investments?
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Laz


Unless you are mega rich, is it really worth the effort? 

Yes, it is possible for "the powers that be" to withhold money that is due from your account. However, in my experience, this has happened to thoroughly deserving cases and I wish the UK would do the same. If you owe it, you pay it.

Personally, my view is that if you have chosen a life in Spain, you take it on the chin, "warts and all" - not select the bits that you like and escape the bits that you don't! How many of the gin and tonic brigade skip off their balconies at the first sign of trouble and head for "home"?

If you want to be an expat - do it, warts and all!


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## Issi

*Issi*



Robert46 said:


> Put it into an Australian Bank interest at 6.5% governmet guaranteed at $1,000,000 per account I'm with the Commenwealth Bank of Australia all the banks in Oz are giving the same interest rate,
> 
> Robert


I am moving to Spain from Perth in mid 2013 and I am interested in who Robert46 used to ship his goods to Spain? Or if he has any advice?
Not quite to do with safety of money in Spanish banks! Thankyou. Issi


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## xabiaxica

Issi said:


> I am moving to Spain from Perth in mid 2013 and I am interested in who Robert46 used to ship his goods to Spain? Or if he has any advice?
> Not quite to do with safety of money in Spanish banks! Thankyou. Issi


:welcome:
I'm almost certain he isn't in Spain (yet?)


I guess he might have some suggestions for you

why not start a new thread looking for recommendations? - we have had a few aussies planning moves to Spain recently


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## Issi

Thankyou Xabiachica, a good idea I will do that!


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## mrypg9

Canaryislander said:


> Unless you are mega rich, is it really worth the effort?
> 
> Yes, it is possible for "the powers that be" to withhold money that is due from your account. However, in my experience, this has happened to thoroughly deserving cases and I wish the UK would do the same. If you owe it, you pay it.
> 
> Personally, my view is that if you have chosen a life in Spain, you take it on the chin, "warts and all" - not select the bits that you like and escape the bits that you don't! How many of the gin and tonic brigade skip off their balconies at the first sign of trouble and head for "home"?
> 
> If you want to be an expat - do it, warts and all!



Your first sentence is way off-beam.
I am not mega-rich . I'm not even rich. I have an offshore account because it is convenient as I have lived in other European countries and it's useful to have one fixed, central bank for your money to be paid into. I also have a Spanish account. I do not have a UK bank account as I have no residence in the UK. I do not commit crimes or evade taxes so I do not expect my assets in Spain to be frozen or sequestrated. Yet I have read and heard of cases where this has happened to people, Spanish and immigrant, who have committed no offense at all.
You can open an offshore account with £100 or 100 euros. Scarcely mega-bucks.
My UK income -tax deducted at source -is paid into my offshore account. There is little scope -quite rightly -for tax evaders to take advantage of UK offshore banks as the UK Government has set up reciprocal tax-collecting arrangements, as it should.
Your comments about 'if you owe it you show pay it' presumably apply also to those Brits and others who live in Spain yet cheerfully avoid paying taxes due to the Spanish Government, either by not declaring income from properties, earned income or dodging IVA? Some try to justify this but it is tax evasion however you regard it.
For your information I enjoy a G& T , pay ALL my taxes whether in the UK or Spain and that includes IVA - and I am not an expat.
I am an immigrant totally committed to my life in Spain where yes, there are warts, just as in the UK, but where I do not need lectures about how I make my financiaL arrangements, thankyou.
One of the 'warts' encountered in Spain is immigrants who feel qualified to tell other immigrants how they should live in Spain.


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## Hollibobs

Eamon said:


> In the UK, the first £85,000 of your cash is protected in case bank goes bust...what are the rules here?


Been to our bank in Spain this morning as we have a fixed term account which has reached its anniversary. Asked the question about how much is guaranteed and the figure is 100,000 euros per account holder. Hope this helps.


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## Goldeneye

Pesky Wesky said:


> Glad some people have got no worries!
> 
> For some of us our days of spend spend spend are a way down the line yet. Just hope I get there - but will my money still be there when I want it?


Well.... Yes but it will be 'worth-less' The way countires can 'solve' their debt problems is to 'inflate' them away.. making the debt 'worthless' as well as your savings...

All 'fiat' (paper) currencies through history have failed... You think Spain and the Piigs are bad, wait until the US is in the news every day, amazing that the focus is off them as they really are in #hit street!!


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## Altaguy

Below is an article on the BBC web site which may help to answer the question of how safe is your money in a Spanish bank.


"People with money in a Greek bank

The amount of money on deposit in Greek banks has fallen by 21% since January 2010, according to the Greek central bank.

What would happen if Greek banks went bust?

On the face of it, their savers would have their deposits protected up to the value of 100,000 euros, the current limit under European union rules.

But that all depends on a country's banking system, and its government, being able to back up any losses suffered by its own compensation scheme.

This problem was highlighted in Iceland back in 2008, when the country simply did not have the cash to compensate savers with Icesave, the internet subsidiary of Landsbanki.

When that went bust, the then UK Chancellor, Alistair Darling, took the decision to use UK money to bail out more than 200,000 UK savers involved, because Iceland simply did not have the money to do it itself.

"It is up to the government to support the banks themselves, and if it cannot do that then some banks will go bust and normal people will lose their money," warns Dr Tran.

Mr Lee-Brown says devaluation could become very messy for both individuals and banks in Greece.

"Inflation will go through the roof and banks will not be able to recover half the money they are owed because people will default," he says.

"People will be seeing what the government is doing, which is in effect defaulting, and people will say if it is good enough for the government it is good enough for me - and the banks can take a haircut too."


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## Goldeneye

If it hadn't been for 'governments' aka (tax payers) bailing out the banks many would have gone under, there would be worldwide panic and there would have been a complete collapse of this 'fiat' (backed by nothing) financial system..... (still to come) !!

I warned my sister in the UK a few months before Northern Rock went down that their was going to be runs on banks and banking failures.. until recently the governments have done a pretty stella job at hiding how com bad the banking/financial system is...
Although the banking system is the USA is different many US Banks are failing each week, sometimes as many as 7.. _(Now known as Bank failure Friday)_ What is happening there is they have taken many officals out of retirement and they are 'pre-empting' runs on banks by on a Friday rolling into the towns of 'failing banks' and basically taking them over, 'giving' the assets to another bank to take on and the FDIC swallowing the liabilities.. On Monday it's business as usual albeit under a different name, the customers still have their accounts and thus the banking Ponzie scheme continues...


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## gus-lopez

Cam bank has just been bought by Sabadell for ........ 1€. 
Sabadell Buys Stricken Lender CAM for a Euro; No Budget Impact, Spain Says - Bloomberg


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## rumpuss

Is this the Leeds Building society Country Boy ?


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## Alcalaina

gus-lopez said:


> Cam bank has just been bought by Sabadell for ........ 1€.
> Sabadell Buys Stricken Lender CAM for a Euro; No Budget Impact, Spain Says - Bloomberg


After a 5.2 billion euro bail-out from the Bank of Spain.

Sabadell gets 5.2 billion euros in assistance to acquire CAM · ELPAÍS.com in English


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