Irish Savers & Pensioners Have Just Been Cyprus'd!

Reggie Middleton published an Irish news story by Niall Brady that noted: "Pensioners who leave retirement funds in Irish banks have no protection from the deposit guarantee scheme that protects savers up to 100,000 Euro." Much of Middleton's story rehashes his previous reporting, which makes yesterday's article a bit confusing. Nevertheless, the IBRC precedent does indicate Irish pensioners should not rest easy.

Last February, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC; previously Anglo Irish Bank) was placed in "special liquidation" -- basically, setting up a "bad bank" structure to deal with bad loans. Liquidation hasn't been without controversy, as pensioners lost savings. Middleton didn't provide a full citation on the Niall Brady story (elevate your game, Reggie). But Ireland does appear to be moving in the direction of not backstopping pensions, as the IBRC example indicates. We'll keep an eye on this story. Meanwhile, we'll keep our original excerpt from Reggie Middleton's website as is — even with it's problematic chronological layout and self congratulatory tone, which gets in the way of actually understanding the story. There has been no Irish-wide reneging on pensions under 100,000 euros held at banks — at least, not yet. A casual reading of Middleton's write-up might lead to that mistaken interpretation.