While on the UK side of the pond - anyone have accounts with these banks:
From:
Credit default swaps: how to spot the riskiest banks - Money Week
So what is the market telling us now? Riskiest of all the major banks is HBOS, with a senior 5-year debt premium of 78 basis points (0.78% above the 5-year gilt yield of 4.3%, i.e. 5.1%). 5.1% is therefore what they have to pay the market for funds. (If they’re paying you much less that’s not a good risk/reward). RBS, Santander (Abbey National) and Barclays aren’t much better but HSBC and Lloyds are considered by the market to be the safest. If you can get a good rate from either of these banks, then given the risks the market thinks you’re taking, that’s a good deal and you should be able to sleep well at night.
I haven’t mentioned the ex-building societies yes just because they are in a group of their own. Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley both have 5-year CDS spreads that are flashing major warning signs. When these banks give you a higher savings rate, it’s not because they’re being generous, it’s because they have to compete for funds with rather more secure institutions.
Alliance & Leicester is being made to pay 200 basis points (2%) over the odds for 5-year money (i.e. about 6.33%) so no wonder they are offering savers in excess of 6% - they have to in order to get any funds at all. The implication is that a high savings rate from Alliance & Leicester reflects a higher risk that you won’t get your money back. Such fears obviously only apply to people with very large sums because the system insures savers up to a certain amount (£35,000). Still, I don’t think you want to have your life savings in a bank that the bond market views with such suspicion. The same goes for Bradford & Bingley.
Here too, the spread over risk-free 5-year money is very nearly 2%. The credit market won’t lend to BB/ over 5 years unless BB/ pays nearly 6.3%.
The question you have to ask yourself is: should you accept anything less?
Then, there are the foreign banks who are offering us internet savings accounts. The basic rule of thumb here is: if they’re ING, they’re no worse a risk than a UK high Street bank. If they’re Irish, they’re likely to be over leveraged and a bit more of a worry (especially Anglo Irish Bank). But if they’re Icelandic, then be afraid; these banks are starting to be priced for bankruptcy risk and it’s not clear what protection UK savers might have with these foreign accounts.