the government's leak agent - robert preston - has said £40bn bailout for uk banks tomorrow

head of rbs to go

my str money is in natwest (rbs)... it's greater than 30k limit.. i've opened another account with hsbc to transfer some money but i will need to open a few more to get each account below the limits if you understand...

does the rbs bailout mean i dont need to panic anymore?

is the uk clearing bank really 'too big to fail'?

I'm reassured that Fred Goodwin has been forced to step down.

P.S. Mods... ERM... This thread is about a lot more than Cash ISAs and Savings Accounts. The RBS story is one of the most critical items of news this weekend that affect the housing market.

if one of the uk's clearing banks go bust i think we can shave another 1% off how much uk gdp will fall next year.. rising unemployment etc not great for house prices!

i'm particularly interested in the hbos/lloyds situation

if hbos goes... crikey.. there will be no mortgage market!

You and me, too. If Lloyds go, there's only HSBC left as a credible provider of business banking accounts. Both RBS and Barclays are clearly in trouble... both seem to have over-stretched themselves in spectacular acquisitions and expansion over the last decade.

In my opinion, HBOS have already fallen - and are temporarily defying gravity only with the concerted intervention of government. I think that the 'short selling' malarkey was all a cover-up to keep HBOS' share price from highlighting the problems in such a way that they can't be ignored. I think the deal with Lloyds and Brown is one that stinks. While we are lead to believe that Lloyds is one of the stronger banks, it seems preposterous to agree to buy a massive liability of unquantified risk profile on a whim at Brown's request... unless, of course, Lloyds knew they would soon be insolvent without government support anyway.