We’re not asking this question in the classical sense such as, safe from armed robbery but rather are you safe from your bank itself?
On June 22, 2016 Bill C15 became law along with its controversial “Bail-In Regime”. In the crash of 2008 governments “bailed out” banks with billions of dollars. The next time around banks will be permitted to seize your deposits and exchange them for shares, shares in a failed bank.
Some say that Canadian banks are so strong Canadians don’t have to worry. But the experts say “Canada is in Serious Trouble”. DBRS, Moody’s and Standard and Poors all have downgraded Canadian banks to a “negative” outlook. The Bank of Canada says our housing market is 30% overvalued, Deutsche Bank says 63% and CMHC says 35%. With average house prices now over over $1.3 million in Toronto and Vancouver a crash appears imminent.
Canadian banks have over $1 trillion invested in residential mortgages. If values come down, banks could easily find themselves under water at which time they will be permitted to take your hard earned deposits to pay their debts.
From our standpoint why would the government feel compelled to enact legislation if in fact, the probabilities of having to act on the legislation is not at least a reasonable possibility? Bank confiscation measures have occurred in the last few years in Cyprus and Greece. Are we really that much more on a solid financial footing? Is anyone these days? If you are one of those folks who believe we are completely immune to us becoming victims of a full blown banking crisis then you are simply in denial. Denial is a coping mechanism for some.
Deposits under $100,000 appear to be covered by CDIC insurance but anything above, personal or business, will be fair game for the bail-in.
In the crash of 2008 governments “bailed out” banks with billions of dollars. The next time around banks will be permitted to seize your deposits and exchange them for shares, shares in a failed bank.
What’s most disturbing about the above is how little this issue was reported on by mainstream media this summer. Does this not potentially affect a fairly large block of Canadian’s?
The war on thrift continues.