MINISTERS are dragging their feet on bank deposit protection while Guernsey has already got a scheme up and running, say the Consumer Council.
The consumer protection body, chaired by Senator Alan Breckon, has said that ministers need to pick up the pace so that Islanders’ bank deposits are protected if another bank goes under, like Icelandic bank Landsbanki did last year.
‘We have not got anything,’ said Senator Breckon (pictured). ‘We’ve got nothing that gives money to anybody, and there is nothing in the offing that I know of, beyond the statement in September that a scheme was not necessary because of the top 500 bank rule. It is a question of us picking up the pace.
‘People expect deposits in banks to be safe – if you stick your money on the Grand National and lose it, then c’est la vie. But people are entitled to assume some degree of safety in banks.’ Since November, all Guernsey retail deposits have been protected.
