– RaboDirect Ireland to close online savings accounts in Irish market on May 16
– RaboDirect holds over €3 billion in deposits from its 90,000 Irish customers
– Irish savers now exposed to still indebted Irish banks and bail-ins
– Bonkers.ie David Kerr mentions “one of note” GoldCore and GoldSaver on RTE radio
RaboDirect, the online savings bank, is set to close the deposit accounts of all 90,000 customers by May 16. Rabodirect’s 90,000 depositors have more than €3 billion on deposit with the bank.
Rabobank is an A+ (S&P) rated Dutch bank and thus Rabodirect had the highest credit rating of any bank in the Irish savings market and thus was the safest savings option in recent years.
The online bank established itself in Ireland in 2005 and grew its deposit base rapidly, especially during the Irish financial crash which saw Irish banks nearly go bankrupt and having to be bailed out by the Irish government.
RaboDirect has begun to inform all customers of the ‘actions they need to take’ and what they need to do before 16 May. Rabodirect said it wants to make the process as straightforward as possible for customers to close their accounts and transfer their savings securely to other financial institutions.
One of the actions RaboDirect clients should consider it to allocate some of their cash to physical gold.
The RaboDirect exit is very disappointing as it was the safest bank in Ireland and many of our clients had an online savings account with the bank. Other savings options in Ireland are much riskier. Some wags on Linkedin suggested that it might be time for the “bank of under the mattress.”
More prudent is to diversify your savings and reduce exposure to Ireland Banking Inc. and Ireland Inc. An allocation to gold (not paper gold but physical gold in ultra secure vaults in safer jurisdictions in the world) remains prudent as gold is a proven safe haven asset, a hedging instrument and delivers strong returns having outperformed blue chip stock market indices and safe haven bonds in the last 10, 20 and 40 years.
Marian’s interview about Savings Accounts and gold can be listened to here (segment on gold from 9th minute)
News and Commentary
Gold slips but trade war fears, Italy vote provide support (Reuters.com)
U.S. Libor exposures larger than thought at $200 trillion (Reuters.com)
Warnings of financial blow-up in Hong Kong (SMH.com.au)
Thousands More Stores Are Now On The 2018 Retail Apocalypse Death List (ZeroHedge.com)
Silver’s poised to outpace gold this year (MarketWatch.com)
Alchemist Issue #88 (LMBA.org.uk)
An Anarchist Explains How Hackers Could Cause Global Chaos (ZeroHedge.com)
Inflation and Honest Data (MauldinEconomics.com)
Gold Prices (LBMA AM)
06 Mar: USD 1,324.95, GBP 957.01 & EUR 1,074.00 per ounce
05 Mar: USD 1,326.30, GBP 958.78 & EUR 1,075.63 per ounce
02 Mar: USD 1,316.75, GBP 955.70 & EUR 1,071.04 per ounce
01 Mar: USD 1,311.25, GBP 953.80 & EUR 1,075.75 per ounce
28 Feb: USD 1,320.30, GBP 951.14 & EUR 1,080.53 per ounce
27 Feb: USD 1,332.75, GBP 954.78 & EUR 1,081.26 per ounce
26 Feb: USD 1,339.05, GBP 953.00 & EUR 1,085.30 per ounce
Silver Prices (LBMA)
06 Mar: USD 16.62, GBP 11.96 & EUR 13.41 per ounce
05 Mar: USD 16.51, GBP 11.95 & EUR 13.42 per ounce
02 Mar: USD 16.45, GBP 11.92 & EUR 13.36 per ounce
01 Mar: USD 16.32, GBP 11.87 & EUR 13.39 per ounce
28 Feb: USD 16.44, GBP 11.88 & EUR 13.45 per ounce
27 Feb: USD 16.61, GBP 11.91 & EUR 13.48 per ounce
26 Feb: USD 16.67, GBP 11.88 & EUR 13.52 per ounce
Recent Market Updates
– Silver bullion will likely outperform gold bullion going forward
– Gold $10,000? Goldnomics Podcast Quotations and Transcript
– Trump Risks Trade and Currency Wars – Protectionism and Economic War Loom
– Four Key Themes To Drive Gold Prices In 2018 – World Gold Council
– Is The Gold Price Going To $10,000? (Goldnomics Podcast 3)
– Gold Corridor From Dubai to China Sought By China
– Digital Gold Provide the Benefits Of Physical Gold?
– Weekly Briefing: Currency Wars – ECB Warns Re Trump, Russia and Turkey Buy Gold and BOE Bitcoin Warning
– Russian Central Bank Buys Gold – 600,000 Ounces Or 18.7 Tons In January As Venezuela Launches ‘Petro Gold’
– Bitcoin or British Pound ‘Pretty Much Failed’ As Currency?
– Bank Bail-In Risk In European Countries Seen In 5 Key Charts
– US-China Trade War Escalates As Further Measures Are Taken
– Gold Up 3.8% In Week – If Closes Above $1,360/oz Will Be Biggest Weekly Gain In Nearly 2 Years
