Pressure for savers' protection

Concerns about the lack of a depositors' protection scheme in Guernsey will be raised at the States.

More then 2,000 savers in stricken Landsbanki Guernsey have been told they should get only 30p for every £1 held, with the prospect of more to come.

Concerns have been raised that the islands' reputation as a finance centre could be tarnished because of the lack of an appropriate protection scheme.

Ten deputies are lobbying for a protection scheme as soon as possible.

The bank's administrators, Deloitte, said that of the £121m deposited in Landsbanki Guernsey, just £41m was available for distribution to savers.

About half of the depositors live in Guernsey and Jersey, with 455 savers living in the UK.

Deloitte has said that because Guernsey has no depositor protection scheme, savers would be reliant on the governments of Guernsey, Britain and Iceland to make up any shortfall as a goodwill gesture, but there was no guarantee of that.