Postfinance guarantee

Phil_MCR · #1 11.07.2011, 15:59

I heard a few different things about postfinance and couldn't confirm them.

I'm opening a bank account with them and considering putting savings with them too. But before doing so, wanted to check I'm not putting it into the Swiss equivalent of Icesave.

Does anyone know how much, and how much of deposits are guaranteed?

From the website, it has this snippet, which seems to suggest that they aren't currently regulated by FINMA. Who are the currently regulated by, if anyone?

	Quote:
	Course set for becoming a public limited company Parliament passed a new Postal Organization Act on 17 December 2010. This stipulates among other things that PostFinance will be transformed into a public limited company subject to supervision by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). The Federal Council will decide on exactly when the transition will take place. Preparatory work for creating the new legal form is currently underway. PostFinance will have a Board of Directors and its own internal auditors. PostFinance AG will be provided with equity in line with the requirements of financial market law. FINMA will decide how much equity is to be provided, and when. In accordance with banking law, PostFinance requires approval for FINMA supervision. This will be sought from FINMA during the current year. Even when this approval has been granted, PostFinance will not be allowed to grant loans or mortgages under its own name.

Lastly, on their e-deposito account, they offer 1% interest. that's just 0.06% less than what I pay on my LIBOR mortgage! how do they manage this?

bill_door · #2 11.07.2011, 23:37

http://www.postfinance.ch/en/bcase/govguar.html

Phil_MCR · #3 11.07.2011, 23:47

	Quote:	bill_door
	http://www.postfinance.ch/en/bcase/govguar.html

thanks. so in summary, there is no guarantee, just an assumption that the swiss state will step in if the SHTF.

also don't worry, because they have capital equivalent to 5% of deposits, so if they lose only 5% then depositors will be ok. just hope they don't lose more than that.

lastly, they are 'conservative' so don't expect to make losses. which makes me wonder how they manage to offer a full 1% on e-deposito accounts. surely they must lend to someone, which implies credit risk and therefore some chance of loss.