Concerns about Future Bank Withdrawal Restrictions

[tcmgpt13]

The financial situation in the US and the world is more dire than most have been led to believe. This news is a warning sign I thought others here might like to know about. Truly scary. This is how out of control spending in Washington effects average people. Will the US soon see a Weimar Republic inflationary period (when average people in Germany needed a wheel barrel of marks to pay for a loaf of bread)? Another sign of future inflation: last week (Feb. 18, 2010) the US federal funds rate went up (the rate at which banks borrow money):

Update: Citigroup Says Feds Ordered 7 Day Restriction On Bank Withdrawals

Update: Citigroup Says Feds Ordered 7 Day Restriction On Bank Withdrawals

Announcement stokes fears of old fashioned bank runs if economy takes a turn for the worse

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
Monday, February 22, 2010

A new advisory being sent by America’s third largest bank to its account holders has stoked fears that major financial institutions could be preparing for old fashioned bank runs if the economy takes a turn for the worse.

Originally reported by John Carney over at the Business Insider website, Citigroup is sending the following information to customers along with their bank statements.

“Effective April 1, 2010, we reserve the right to require (7) days advance notice before permitting a withdrawal from all checking accounts. While we do not currently exercise this right and have not exercised it in the past, we are required by law to notify you of this change.”

An almost identical advisory to the one being sent out can be read on page 22 of Citbank’s Client Manual effective January 1, 2010, which can be read here from Citibank’s own website.

“We reserve the right to require seven (7) days advance notice before permitting a withdrawal from all checking, savings and money market accounts. We currently do not exercise this right and have not exercised it in the past,” states the manual.

According to the Future of Capitalism blog, Citigroup originally claimed that the warning was only sent nationwide as a result of a mistake, but that the measures do apply to account holders in Texas.

However, in a statement, Citigroup confirmed that they had reserved the right to impose the new 7 day rule on all account holders nationwide, but claimed they had no plans to enforce it. The bank stated that they had been forced to enact the new policy as a result of federal regulations.

“When Citibank moved to unlimited FDIC coverage in 2009, we had to reclassify many checking accounts to allow for immediate withdrawals in order to ensure all customers qualified for the additional coverage. When we moved back to standard FDIC coverage with most major banks in 2010, Citibank decided to reclassify those accounts back to make them eligible again for promotional incentives. To do so, Federal Reserve Reg D requires these accounts, called NOW accounts, to reserve the right to require a 7-day notice of withdrawal. We recently communicated this technical requirement to our customers. However, we have never exercised this right and have no plans to do so in the future,” reads a statement released by the bank.

Over the last 18 months, numerous rumors of bank runs, “bank holidays,” and limitations on access to cash at ATM’s have been floating around. Citigroup’s new policy to restrict withdrawals won’t do anything to calm such fears.

As we reported back in 2008, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which guarantees individual accounts up to $100,000, only has about $50 billion to “insure” about $1 trillion in assets across the nation’s financial institutions.

This revelation prompted fears that an accelerating amount of bank closures could absorb FDIC funds and leave holders of money market and traditional savings accounts exposed.

[carla]

If I had any money l would spend it all on Solar panels,water filters and storable food.
This crash is going to be serious.
If you can't afford stored food get a book on Wild Foods.Or you could trust the Government to bail you out.

Learning Resources

[tcmgpt13]

Carla. Yeah, sure the government will feed us if the economy collapses along with some help from all those third world countries which Western nations have supported during times of famine. You are spot on with your suggestions for water filters and learning about wild foods (solar panels seem a bit out of reach, but there are some directions online for building a solar oven).

About water filters, it is possible that these will need to be non-electric. Have you done any research about this type?

Even if specially packed storage foods are beyond reach as far as affordability everyone probably can at least buy extra cans of whatever is on sale that week. Put some extra cans away for hard times. I make it a habit to do this with buy one get one free canned goods offers. If matched with a coupon sometimes one can really save a lot of money and store food too. During the millenium scare I learned that canned tuna can last up to four or five years. So buy what extra you can afford. Canned meats like chicken and turkey. Spam is an affordable protein source even if not that good. There are recipes sites to make this food more palatable, especially the Spam. In Hawaii, where food prices are very high, the locals have learned to make many dishes, including oriental versions, using Spam. Mark extra cans and boxes with purchase date (month/year) and rotate for use before best by date. There is canned dry oatmeal from Scotland which should last longer than boxed cereals.

Shelf life of canned goods:

Canned Food : Shelf Life - Food Reference Cooks Tips

Y2K Kitchen - Canned Food Code and Shelf Life Information

Food Storage FAQ - Shelf Life

More on eating wild:

Organica News -- News and Features: RADICAL FOODS—Wild Foods

Weed Eaters

A Brit’s blogs about eating wild for a year:

fergus the forager

Some facts about 20th century famines:

The Great Famine-Genocide in Soviet Ukraine (Holodomor)

Famine - New World Encyclopedia