Thread: A note of caution for those with deposits in US Banks

Right. I suppose my remarks could be construed as flip -- not my intent. Just adding a little levity and my opinion that it probably isn't as bad as some make it out.

Update - German Taxpayer shells out 1BN Euros to help stricken bank, IKB, tries to find larger sums from other banks (again) without much success:

(Article in German)

Krise der Mittelstandsbank: Staat pumpt Rettungs-Milliarde in IKB - Wirtschaft - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten

So the krauts can be proud; they have their very own Northern Rock!

Further update, with article in English:

BBC NEWS | Business | Third aid loan for struggling IKB

Third aid loan for struggling IKB

The German government has agreed a 1.5bn euros ($2.19bn: £1.11bn) rescue package for IKB, the third bailout since the bank hit trouble last summer.


Finance minister Peer Steinbrueck said the move was needed as the consequences of an IKB collapse were "incalculable."
IKB, already given 6bn euros of loan aid, lost billions on investments in assets backed by risky US home loans.

If I had an account with them, I would be heading for the exits! (unless it was overdrawn)

Gulf investors may not save Citigroup, Dubai executive says

Gulf investors may not save Citigroup, Dubai executive says - MarketWatch

By Mirna Sleiman and Andrew Critchlow

Of ZAWYA DOW JONES
DUBAI

(Zawya Dow Jones)--Mideast sovereign wealth funds may fail to save troubled U.S. banking giant Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup, Inc

Unless more cash is pumped into the lender, the head of a $13 billion Dubai-owned investment firm said Tuesday.

Sameer Al Ansari, Chief Executive of Dubai International Capital told delegates at a private equity conference that it will take more than the combined efforts of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the Kuwait Investment Authority and Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to save the bank.

"It's going to take more than that to rescue Citi," Ansari said. He added that more write downs are expected and that Gulf investors would be required to bolster Citi.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, or ADIA, a sovereign wealth fund owned by the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, last year bought a 4.9% stake in Citigroup.
The Kuwait Investment Authority also said in January it would invest $3 billion in Citigroup.

Al Ansari said "it would take a lot more money to rescue Citigroup." A spokesperson for Citi was unable to comment immediately when called Tuesday.
Dubai International Capital, an investment firm controlled by Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, owns a stake in HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBA.LN), bought 3.12% in European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co last year. The company also owns a stake in Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.LN), according to Zawya Investor.

The intervention of sovereign funds such as ADIA, which pumped $7.6 billion into Citi, has failed to stem a decline in the bank's share price that was first triggered by the emergence last year of an $11 billion sub-prime write-down that led to the resignation of the then embattled chief executive Charles 'Chuck' Prince.
Citi's share price has fallen by more than 33% since late November, when the ADIA stake purchase was first reported, till date to close at $23.09 Tuesday.
The bank said in January that it lost $9.83 billion in the fourth quarter spurred by $18 billion in write-downs. To stem the losses Citi said it planned to raise $14.5 billion in capital by selling stakes to investors including Saudi's Prince Alwaleed, the lenders largest single shareholder.

Since coming out in support of former chief executive Prince prior to his resignation billionaire Alwaleed has commented little on Citi's current travails.
A spokesperson for Prince Alwaleed's office didn't answer calls on Tuesday.
Middle East sovereign funds flush with cash from record oil earnings are looked upon as possible saviors for many international lenders reeling from continued U.S. sub-prime losses.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, chief executive of the Qatar Investment Authority, QIA, told Zawya Dow Jones in January that the emirate's sovereign wealth fund planned to invest up to $15 billion buying stakes in up to 12 blue-chip U.S. and European banks.

-By Mirna Sleiman, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 364 4966, [email protected]
Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 04, 2008 06:18 ET (11:18 GMT)
-Contact: 201-938-5400

(My comment): 'Save' Citi..? sounds like things are really gearing up for trouble. Then again, I don't suppose many people have accounts with such a shaky bank, do they...