Council money invested in Icelandic Bank

[tim west]

So I hear on the radio this morning that a certain council has £50m in an icelandic bank, and now are asking the government to help guarantee their money,

What are they moaning for they have a guarantee, like everyone else it's £50k, whats the problem?

Don't invest OUR Council Tax money abroad when its supposed to be being put to good use at home.

 

[Deleted member 105431]

here here.

 

[JohnD]

Councils are considered to be "Informed investors" and as professionals should know better.

This might or might not be true, but at least the taxpayer is not expected to bale out the professionals.

I heard something on the radio "If you walked into Ladrokes and said you wanted to bet £100 million on the price of iron ore in 2012, they'd tell you to go home and sleep it off. But the fund managers have been doing it, with our money"

 

[tim west]

Maybe Councils and other governmental bodies should be forced to invest here say in National Savings or perhaps Bank of England?
Can they do the latter?

 

[Thermo]

i still cant get my head around why they are paying to cover all the investments of private individuals in the icelandic banks. Over here i can understand.

As for councils, well i think its pointless, because one way or another we will end up paying for it, wether its now, or as increased tax later on.

 

[Richard C]

Shame about the Icelanders in general, having worked there for a year I can say you couldn’t wish for nicer & more hospitable folks. One Icelandic guy on the telly summed it up, “we’ve been shafted by around 30 very greedy people & its bankrupt our whole country”! It’s a very small place with not very many inhabitants & I feel sorry for the general folks that will inevitably suffer as a result of a few smart ar*ed Bankers/Wa**kers (is there much difference!) greed; they just don’t have the GDP to survive & I think the whole country could go under; now there’s a thought!

 

[Bilioustrumpstaine]

You have to wonder WTF is going on when your local council is investing money in an Icelandic bank

Bet the Icelandic local councils don't invest in UK banks

I wonder what else the local councils haven't told us

I am going to send a little note with my next council tax payment "Please be careful with this cos I ain't paying it again".

Do you think it would be a defence in court if you stopped paying your council tax because you didn't trust them to look after the money

 

[Bilioustrumpstaine]

Maybe Councils and other governmental bodies should be forced to invest here say in National Savings or perhaps Bank of England?
Can they do the latter?

Or put it into Northern Rock, after all it is owned by the government.



Local Authorities should be forced to put their dosh in, not send it to f***ing Iceland.

 

[Richard C]

You have to wonder WTF is going on when your local council is investing money in an Icelandic bank

I wonder what else the local councils haven't told us

If you haven’t been listening to breaking news today, catch the 10 o’clock tonight; it's worse than you think! It seems there are not many local councils or Police forces etc. that haven’t put large amounts of our cash into the Icelandic banks! Iceland is the first country to effectively go broke; but they haven't actullay said that yet. I fear there may be others to follow & because of the way our economy has been structure for the last 15 years or so, I have an uneasy feeling that we may be among them; god forbid!

 

[^woody^]

Why have they put all this money into Iceland, when many people are switching to Lidl's and Aldi. Surely there is not that much profit in food retail?

And where have the councils got all this extra money to invest, when all we hear every year, is that they have no money and services will be cut?

 

[Thermo]

they basically put money they keep in reserve for unforseen events etc in various investments. up until a week ago they were viewed as one of the safest, but still providing a very good return on the money. they are trying to maximise the money they have by investing it while they hold it.

 

[Richard C]

Why have they put all this money into Iceland, when many people are switching to Lidl's and Aldi. Surely there is not that much profit in food retail?

 

[hermes]

They have been putting cash into the Icelandic banks because of the relatively high rates of interest. What else are they meant to do with it, put it under the mattress?

 

[tim west]

Countries going bust? Sounds like the ideal time for a takeover,
WW3 anyone?

 

[Thermo]

hang on ill get my cruise missile