When Your Bank Freezes Your Account
One way to tell that the economy is about to collapse (or has done so already) is when your bank won’t let you have your money. An interesting account from Alexander Higgins’ Blog about the major Italian bank that has frozen all withdrawals – and the devastating effect this has had on their customers. Italy is one of the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) countries that is so massively indebted they are doomed to collapse when one of the other PIIGS countries does. It looks like Italy is well on their way.
Major Italian Bank Freezes All Customer Accounts
On May 31st Bank Network Investments discretely posted an announcement on their website that they would be freezing all of their customers accounts for 1 month freeze on citing financial difficulties.
The announcement was posted and the bank gave customers 7 days to act before the Bank of Italy approved freeze went into effect.
The bank’s customers are saying they were completely unaware of the notice being posted and are just now finding out about it when they go to the bank or the ATM for the first time.
The media certainly hasn’t reported on it and news of the freeze is only now starting to make its way around the internet after a complaint was posted on the popular Italian consumer rights website Adiconsum along with a photo of a shutdown ATM.
The freezing of the customer’s deposits, in a nation that apparently doesn’t have a mechanism like the FDIC to insure customer deposits against losses, has sent a shockwaves of terror across Italy raising fears that other customers will lose their deposits entirely.
In turn speculation is growing that other banks in Italy and across Europe may soon suffer the same fate as Europe officials announce they are planning ATM and Bank withdrawal restrictions to deal with a Greece exits from the Euro.