Press releases and events

The Building Societies Association welcomes increase in FSCS limit to £50,000

Building Societies Association logo for press releasesBuilding Societies Association logo for press releases

Friday, 03, Oct 2008 12:00

Commenting on the FSA’s announcement, Adrian Coles, Director-General of the BSA said:

“We welcome today’s announcement that the level of compensation for savers will increase from £35,000 to £50,000 on Tuesday. This will mean that at least 97% of building society savers are fully covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

“We are pleased also that the Tripartite Authorities have again repeated their commitment to “do whatever is necessary to maintain financial stability and protect depositors”.

“It is good that this new limit is to be implemented so quickly. The financial services market is changing rapidly and there is no room for uncertainty or lack of clarity for consumers.

“It is sensible to have a longer term debate about whether the limit should be higher still, the speed with which compensation payments are made and the legal basis of the coverage. We also think that there should be a debate about whether building societies’ and banks’

payments into the compensation scheme should somehow be risk-related.”

~ Ends ~

Notes to Editor:

1. The Building Societies Association (BSA) represents all 59 building societies in the United Kingdom. Building societies have total assets of over £360 billion and, together with their subsidiaries, hold residential mortgages of £250 billion, more than 20% of the total outstanding in the UK. Societies hold about £230 billion of retail deposits, accounting for more than 20% of all such deposits in the UK.

Building societies also account for about 38% of all cash ISA balances.

Building societies employ over 51,500 full and part-time staff and operate through more than 2,000 branches.

2. Photographs of Adrian Coles are available from the BSA press office, or from the Association’s website at www.bsa.org.uk or Headlinemoney www.headlinemoney.co.uk

CONTACT: Rachel Le Brocq

DIRECT LINE: 020 7520 5905

NIGHT/WEEKEND: 07773 489644

EMAIL: rachel.lebrocq@bsa.org.uk

THE BUILDING SOCIETIES ASSOCIATION

Website: http://www.bsa.org.uk

Disclaimer:
Press releases published on this page are from key opinion formers who promote their organisation's activities by subscribing to a campaign site within politics.co.uk. politics.co.uk does not endorse, edit, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases are wholly the responsibility of the originating company or organisation.

Latest press releases

Building Societies' lending remains low as housing market remains depressed

Net mortgage lending by building societies was £413 million in October, an improvement compared to £314 million in September, but still 45% lower than the figure for October last year.

BSA welcomes FSA arrears announcement

The Building Societies Association (BSA) welcomes today’s announcement by the FSA that it will be requiring lenders to review their arrears policy and procedures and assess whether borrowers in arrears are being treated fairly.

BSA comments on the Pre Budget report

The BSA welcomes the establishment of the Lending Panel by the Government, and we look forward to contributing to its work.

BSA: Bailing out banks unfair on building societies and their members

This was the message today from John Goodfellow, Chairman of the Building Societies Association, speaking at the Association’s Annual Lunch.