The Financial Services Authority (UK Financial Watchdog) has announced that the amount of deposits in British Banks that will be guaranteed by the Government, has increased from £35,000 to £50,000. This is a little bit of good news for the retails customers who are worried about losing their savings in UK banks in case of any further financial disaster. This will take effect from Tuesday 8th of October, 2008. The FSA has also said that they reserve the right to raise the limit if it sees fit.

This announcement comes after a bad week in the British Banking industry with the announcement of the privatizations of Bradford and Bingley and that the Irish government has made the move to guarantee all deposits and debts of its six largest lenders. The UK governemnt is now pressured to respond to this move by the Irish govenrment to prevent a mass exodus of funds to Irish banks. We are expecting a new draft of the Banking Bill next week.