Has Piraeus Bank UK (PBUK) been affected by the ‘credit crunch’?
PBUK is a branch of Piraeus Bank SA, the Greek banking group. As such, PBUK can create comfort from being part of the Group’s Balance Sheet. Like all Greek Banks, Piraeus Bank is covered by the Greek State Guarantee which is actually slightly higher than the UK Government’s Bank Guarantee. Piraeus Bank has always been run prudently, and therefore had not become involved in ‘toxic debt’. In common with all banks, Piraeus Bank found that borrowing funds over the previous few months had become very expensive as liquidity dried up. However with no hidden off-balance sheet investments PBUK was actually better placed to weather the storm than most of its peers. PBUK’s new deposit product Piraeus Bank UK has a new deposit product aimed at savers with more than £100,000 (or equivalent in Euros or US Dollars) to place on deposit for 1,3,6 or 12 months at competitive rates. For example, if a customer leaves £100,000 on deposit for 12 months, he or she will receive 1.3 % over and above the 12 mon
