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| Economy |
| Run On Swedish Bank In Latvia |
| 2011-12-12 |
| Latvia's largest bank is trying to contain a run among depositors gripped by fears of the bank's imminent collapse. The panic among Swedish-owned Swedbank's depositors began Sunday after rumors spread that the financial institution was facing legal and liquidity problems in Estonia and Sweden. Swedbank's Latvian chief Maris Mancinskis on Monday called the rumors "absurd." He said the bank is functioning normally and all depositors will have access to their funds via bank machines. Why does this remind me of Kevin Bacon in 'Animal House', yelling at the panicked crowd: "Remain calm! All is well! ALL IS WELL!" Mancinskis said some 10,000 Latvians withdrew over 10 million lats ($20 million) on Sunday. Latvia's 10th largest bank, Latvijas Krajbanka, is currently being liquidated after regulators uncovered fraud on a massive scale. Depositors were left without access to their money for days. U.S. law has been recently changed so that now banks, on their own, can declare a bank holiday of up to 2 weeks, if they think a run is in progress. This includes 'demand' accounts previously thought to be sacrosanct. During the Great Depression, the federal government made some banks have holidays from 3 to 300 days. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #6 In Korporate Kommunist Amerika, the Federal Reserve Bank runs on YOU. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-12-12 17:32 |
| #5 Does that mean they will not accept mortgage payments from those accounts? Safest to assume not, Tamir, but what happened to Krajbanka customers? The article only says they were left without access to their money for days. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2011-12-12 15:04 |
| #4 Does that mean they will not accept mortgage payments from those accounts? |
| Posted by: Tamir Pardo 2011-12-12 14:08 |
| #3 Some of the banks that went on holiday during the Great Depression have not yet reopened. Their depositors were SOL. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-12-12 13:58 |
| #2 They've thought of that angle. Banks will still take deposits during a holiday, just not withdrawals. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-12-12 12:18 |
| #1 What happens if a bank declares a "bank holiday" and the customer has direct deposit for their payroll? A mad scramble to shut off the direct deposit? |
| Posted by: tipover 2011-12-12 11:42 |