International Deposit Insurance Limits
With the US Senate proposing to raise the FDIC insurance cap from $100,000 to $250,000 I thought that I would survey every country known to have or planning to have deposit insurance. Here’s how the U.S. stacks up.
Blogger’s Note: Table updated on October 12th 2008
| Nation & URL | Percent | Guarantee | Currency | USD | Guarantee in Dollars | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 100% on first 350,000 | 350,000 | ALL lekë | 0.0130 | $4,550 | $8,418 | |
| 85% on next 350,000 | 297,500 | ALL lekë | 0.0130 | $3,868 | |||
| Algeria | 100% on first 600,000 | 600,000 | DZD dinar | 0.0161 | $9,654 | ||
| Argentina | 100% on first 30,000 | 30,000 | ARS pesos | 0.3305 | $9,915 | ||
| Armenia | 100% on first 2,000,000 | 2,000,000 | AMD drams | 0.0033 | $6,600 | ||
| Australia | 100% on first unlimited | unlimited | AUD dollars | 0.9707 | unlimited | after 12/31/11 will return to AUD$20,000 | |
| Austria | 100% on first 20,000 | 20,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $31,700 | 5 programs exist; temporary unlimited guarantee on all deposits | |
| Azerbaijan | 100% on first 4,000 | 4,000 | AZN manat | 1.2346 | $4,938 | ||
| Bahamas | 100% on first 50,000 | 50,000 | BSD dollars | 1.0025 | $50,125 | ||
| Bahrain | 75% on first 20,000 | 15,000 | BHD dinar | 2.6522 | $39,783 | ||
| Bangladesh | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | BDT taka | 0.0146 | $1,458 | ||
| Barbados | BBD dollars | 0.5013 | pending | ||||
| Belarus | 80% on first 2,676,250 | 2,141,000 | BYR rubles | 0.0005 | $1,010 | ||
| Belgium | 100% on first 20,000 | 20,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $31,700 | ||
| Bolivia | pending | ||||||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 100% on first 7,500 | 7,500 | BAM marka | 0.8102 | $6,077 | ||
| Brazil | 100% on first 60,000 | 60,000 | BRL reais | 0.6291 | $37,746 | ||
| Bulgaria | 100% on first 40,000 | 40,000 | BGN leva | 0.8110 | $32,440 | ||
| Cameroon | pending | ||||||
| Canada | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | CAD dollars | 0.9931 | $99,310 | higher in some provinces | |
| Canada | |||||||
| Canada | |||||||
| Central African Republic | pending | ||||||
| Chad | pending | ||||||
| Chile | 90% on first 133 | 120 | USD Unidades de Fomento | 41.2331 | $4,948 | inflation adjusted system | |
| China | CNY | 0.1466 | planned | ||||
| Colombia | 75% on first 26,666,667 | 20,000,000 | COP pesos | 0.0006 | $11,220 | ||
| Congo | pending | ||||||
| Costa Rica | under study | ||||||
| Croatia | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | HRK kuna | 0.2195 | $21,950 | ||
| Cyprus | 90% on first 22,222 | 20,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $31,700 | ||
| Czech Republic | 90% on first 27,778 | 25,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $39,625 | ||
| Denmark | 100% on first 300,000 | 300,000 | DKK kroner | 0.2124 | $63,720 | temporary unlimited guarantee on all deposits | |
| Dominican Republic | 100% on first unlimited | unlimited | DOP pesos | 0.0292 | unlimited | ||
| Ecuador | 100% on first 12,200 | 12,200 | USD dollars | 1.0000 | $12,200 | ||
| El Salvador | 100% on first 8,500 | 8,500 | USD dollars | 1.0000 | $8,500 | ||
| Equatorial Guinea | pending | ||||||
| Estonia | 90% on first 14,202 | 12,782 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $20,259 | ||
| Finland | 100% on first 25,000 | 25,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $39,625 | ||
| France | 100% on first 70,000 | 70,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $110,950 | ||
| 100% on first unlimited | unlimited | EUR euros | 1.5850 | unlimited | notary managed accounts | ||
| Gabon | pending | ||||||
| Georgia | planned | ||||||
| Germany | 90% on first 22,222 | 20,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $31,700 | 8 programs exist; on 10/5/08 the German gov’t offered unlimited protection for individuals | |
| Gibraltar | 90% on first 22,222 | 20,000 | GBP pounds | 1.9980 | $39,960 | ||
| Greece | 100% on first 20,000 | 20,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $31,700 | ||
| Guatemala | 100% on first 20,000 | 20,000 | GTQ quetzales | 0.1358 | $2,716 | ||
| Honduras | 100% on first 165,000 | 165,000 | HNL lempiras | 0.0529 | $8,735 | ||
| Hong Kong | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | HKD dollars | 0.1282 | $12,820 | ||
| Hungary | 100% on first 6,000,000 | 6,000,000 | HUF forint | 0.0069 | $41,616 | ||
| Iceland | 100% on first 20,887 | 20,887 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $33,106 | unlimited guarantee for deposits located inside Iceland | |
| India | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | INR rupees | 0.0234 | $2,340 | ||
| Indonesia | 100% on first 100,000,000 | 100,000,000 | IDR rupiah | 0.0001 | $10,930 | ||
| Ireland | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $158,500 | unlimited guarantee at Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Life and Permanent, Irish Nationwide Building Society and the Educational Building Society | |
| Isle of Man | 100% on first 30,000 | 30,000 | GBP pounds | 1.9980 | $59,940 | $95,904 | |
| 90% on next 20,000 | 18,000 | GBP pounds | 1.9980 | $35,964 | |||
| Italy | 100% on first 200,000,000 | 200,000,000 | ITL lire | 0.0008 | $163,717 | 3 programs exist | |
| Jamaica | 100% on first 600,000 | 600,000 | JMD dollars | 0.0140 | $8,424 | ||
| Japan | 100% on first 10,000,000 | 10,000,000 | JPY yen | 0.0094 | $93,500 | ||
| 100% on first unlimited | unlimited | JPY yen | 0.0094 | unlimited | non-interest accounts fully insured | ||
| Jordan | 100% on first 10,000 | 10,000 | JOD dinars | 1.4137 | $14,137 | ||
| Kazakhstan | 100% on first 700,000 | 700,000 | KZT tenge | 0.0083 | $5,824 | ||
| Kenya | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | KES shillings | 0.0151 | $1,508 | ||
| Korea | 100% on first 50,000,000 | 50,000,000 | KRW won | 0.0010 | $49,305 | ||
| Kosovo | under study | ||||||
| Kyrgyz Republic | planned | ||||||
| Laos | LAK kip | 0.0001 | unknown plan | ||||
| Latvia | 100% on first 15,000 | 15,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $23,775 | ||
| Lebanon | 100% on first 5,000,000 | 5,000,000 | LBP pounds | 0.0007 | $3,317 | ||
| Liechtenstein | 100% on first 20,000 | 20,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $31,700 | ||
| Lithuania | 90% on first 19,308 | 17,377 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $27,543 | ||
| Luxembourg | 100% on first 20,000 | 20,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $31,700 | ||
| Macedonia | 100% on first 10,000 | 10,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $15,850 | $31,700 | |
| 90% on next 11,111 | 10,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $15,850 | |||
| Malaysia | 100% on first 60,000 | 60,000 | MYR ringgit | 0.3092 | $18,552 | ||
| Malta | 90% on first 22,222 | 20,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $31,700 | ||
| Marshall Islands | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | USD dollars | 1.0000 | $100,000 | FDIC insured | |
| Mexico | 100% on first 400,000 | 400,000 | MXV Unidades de Inversion | 0.3956 | $158,243 | inflation adjusted system | |
| Micronesia | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | USD dollars | 1.0000 | $100,000 | FDIC insured | |
| Moldova | 100% on first 4,500 | 4,500 | MDL lei | 0.1028 | $463 | ||
| Mongolia | planned | ||||||
| Montenegro | EUR euros | 1.5850 | unknown plan | ||||
| Morocco | 100% on first 50,000 | 50,000 | MAD dirhams | 0.1379 | $6,895 | ||
| Netherlands | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $158,500 | returns to 38,000 euros on 10/7/2009 | |
| New Zealand | planned | ||||||
| Nicaragua | 100% on first 20,000 | 20,000 | USD cordobas | 1.0000 | $20,000 | ||
| Nigeria | 100% on first 200,000 | 200,000 | NGN naira | 0.0084 | $1,688 | ||
| Norway | 100% on first 2,000,000 | 2,000,000 | NOK kroner | 0.1966 | $393,200 | ||
| Oman | 75% on first 26,667 | 20,000 | OMR rial | 2.5977 | $51,954 | ||
| Pakistan | planned | ||||||
| Panama | under study | ||||||
| Paraguay | 100% on first 64,207,500 | 64,207,500 | PYG guaranies | 0.0003 | $16,347 | ||
| Peru | 100% on first 82,845 | 82,845 | PEN nuevos soles | 0.3512 | $29,095 | ||
| Philippines | 100% on first 250,000 | 250,000 | PHP pesos | 0.0226 | $5,653 | ||
| Poland | 100% on first 1,000 | 1,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $1,585 | $32,255 | |
| 90% on next 21,500 | 19,350 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $30,670 | |||
| Portugal | 100% on first 5,000,000 | 5,000,000 | PTE escudos | 0.0079 | $39,525 | ||
| Puerto Rico | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | USD dollars | 1.0000 | $100,000 | FDIC insured | |
| Romania | 100% on first 12,522 | 12,522 | RON lei | 0.4454 | $5,577 | ||
| Russia | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | RUB rubles | 0.0431 | $4,307 | $17,228 | |
| 90% on next 333,333 | 300,000 | RUB rubles | 0.0431 | $12,921 | |||
| Serbia | 100% on first 5,000 | 5,000 | CSD dinar | 0.0173 | $87 | ||
| Singapore | 100% on first 20,000 | 20,000 | SGD dollars | 0.7399 | $14,798 | ||
| Slovakia | 90% on first 22,222 | 20,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $31,700 | ||
| Slovenia | 100% 25,025 | 25,025 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $39,665 | ||
| South Africa | pending | ||||||
| Spain | 100% on first 20,000 | 20,000 | EUR euros | 1.5850 | $31,700 | ||
| Sri Lanka | 100% on first 100,000 | 100,000 | LKR rupees | 0.0093 | $930 | ||
| Sudan | SDD pounds | 0.0043 | unknown plan | ||||
| Sweden | 100% on first 500,000 | 500,000 | SEK kronor | 0.1676 | $83,800 | temporary unlimited guarantee on all deposits | |
| Switzerland | 100% on first 30,000 | 30,000 | CHF francs | 0.9776 | $29,328 | private banks | |
| Switzerland | 100% on first unlimited | unlimited | CHF francs | 0.9776 | unlimited | cantonal banks | |
| Taiwan | 100% on first 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 | TWD dollars | 0.0330 | $49,440 | ||
| Tajikistan | 100% on first 1,000 | 1,000 | TJS somoni | 0.2899 | $290 | ||
| Tanzania | 100% 250,000 | 250,000 | TZS shillings | 0.0009 | $214 | ||
| Thailand | planned | ||||||
| Trinidad and Tobago | 100% 50,000 | 50,000 | TTD dollars | 0.1646 | $8,230 | ||
| Turkey | 100% on first 50,000 | 50,000 | TRY lira | 0.8393 | $41,965 | ||
| Uganda | 100% 3,000,000 | 3,000,000 | UGX shillings | 0.0006 | $1,823 | ||
| UK | 100% on first 50,000 | 50,000 | GBP pounds | 1.9980 | $99,900 | ||
| Ukraine | 100% 2,000 | 2,000 | UAH hryvni | 0.2179 | $436 | ||
| Uruguay | UYU pesos | 0.0522 | unknown plan | ||||
| USA | 100% on first 250,000 | 250,000 | USD dollars | 1.0000 | $250,000 | after 12/31/09 will return to $100,000 | |
| 100% on first 250,000 | 250,000 | USD dollars | 1.0000 | $250,000 | IRAs | ||
| Uzbekistan | UZS som | 0.0009 | unknown plan | ||||
| Venezuela | 100% 10,000,000 | 10,000,000 | VEB bolivares fuertes | 0.0005 | $4,657 | ||
| Vietnam | 100% on first 200,000 | 50,000,000 | VND dong | 0.0001 | $2,958 | ||
| Yemen | YER rials | 0.0050 | unknown plan | ||||
| Zimbabwe | 100% on first 15,000,000 | 15,000,000 | ZWD dollars | 0.0000 | $551 | ||
This is a work in progress — if you see any errors please let me know by leaving a comment.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:21 am
Looks like the UK’s limit is going up to £50,000 next Tuesday, and Ireland is now insuring unlimited amounts (as of this week):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7650551.stm
October 9th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Germany announced a unlimited state-backed guarantee for personal savings deposits in German banks. (October 2008)
http://www.thelocal.de/14709/20081005/
October 9th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
The Isle of Man has deposit insurance of up to £50,000 (ca US$ 85,000) of net deposits* per individual depositor
http://www.gov.im/fsc/investor/dep_comp.xml
October 10th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Autumn and Hubert,
Thanks for your comments! I have added in your info.
Please note that Ireland’s “unlimited” deposit protection is limited to deposits located in the Republic of Ireland and only at certain Irish banks (Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Life and Permanent, Irish Nationwide Building Society and the Educational Building Society).
Germany’s guarantee is interesting, because so far as I can tell it is coming directly from the Germany government, and not from the various insurance clubs.
Hubert, I think your star (*) means that The Isle of Man protection is limited to £48,000 on the first £50,000 of net deposits per individual. Is that right?
October 12th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Iceland has issued a temporary unlimited guarantee for branches located within Iceland. They have explicitly refused to guarantee deposits at EU branches such as in the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany. Iceland asserts that those deposits are however protected by their respective national schemes.
The EU has raised its minimum level of guarantees for bank deposits to 50,000 euros. This affects only those EU nations who have not already separately increased their limits, and may not take effect until each member state separately raises their deposit limits.
Netherlands has temporarily increased their deposit guarantee scheme to cover 100% of the first 100,000 euros per person per bank for one year (which would be October 7, 2009). Also they have extended deposit protection to Icesave Nederland.
Following the German model, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden have ordered temporary blanket deposit guarantees on all private accounts. Unlike the Irish model which extended the existing insurance system and only protected certain banks, these nations are taking on much larger risks in an effort to calm their financial systems. Denmark has taken the additional step of guaranteeing all interbank loans.
As a longer term solution Sweden has doubled its deposit insurance and investor compensation schemes to 500,000 kronor per customer per institution according to a government proposal dated October 6, 2008.
Denmark for its part has setup a 35,000,000,000 kroner insurance fund with bank premiums amortized over two years, which works out to an increase in annual premiums for Danish banks of 17.5 billion kroner per year. Danish nominal GDP is around 1.7 trillion kroner, making the new premiums an astonishing 1% of GDP. Looking at it another way, Danish banking assets are around 4.3 trillion kroner, which makes the annual premium only 0.4% of their balance sheet assets.
And this just in: Australia now offers comprehensive and unlimited deposit insurance as of October 12, 2008. Their guarantees covers all deposits at all Australian banks, building societies, credit unions, and foreign banks operating in Australia. The guarantee further covers all loans (wholesale term funding) extended to an Australian bank from anywhere in the world.
November 11th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
In Taiwan, the deposit insurance covered expanded to all kinds of deposits with 100% protected until the end of 2009. Furthermore, the insurance corporation has taken the additional step of guaranteeing all interbank loans of depository institutions.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Thanks for putting this together - very helpful! FYI - Slovenia’s deposit insurance is unlimited until 31 December 2010 (at this stage €22,000 thereafter) and Italy don’t use the Lira any more!
I *think* Italy covers up to €103,291. Will post more errors if/when I spot them.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Others - Serbia is now €50,000, Bosnia is approximately €10,000, Croatia is approximately €55,800 and Estonia & Latvia are €50,000.
Cheers again.
January 26th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Another - Hungary increased to ft 13mill (€45,573 approx)
January 26th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Thanks Brad. I believe that the Italian laws continue to use the lira to express their bank guarantee limit. This is why I have chosen to keep that number in lire.
It would be more clear for Europeans if I provided the fixed euro conversion for Italy. I’ll be sure to make a notation of the conversion to € on my next update of the table.
January 27th, 2009 at 2:26 am
You’ll find even countries in the region that don’t use Euro express their level of cover in Euro (or at least set their level of cover in Euro then convert to local currency) to address the risk of local banks losing their deposit base to higher insuring neighbours.
I think as the crisis lengthens and really begins to impact emerging market economies, you’ll see the levels of insurance in different countries reach parity.
In your next update of the table, it’d be really interesting to see a statistic of the size of the fund from which payments are made following a bank failure as a percentage of insured deposits. Saying deposits are insured is one thing, but the ability to pay is another entirely.
January 27th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Many of the above deposit guarantees are implicitly backed — such as by the Canton of Zürich or an executive order that has no legislated budget to back it or a contractual consideration with fellow banks to provide mutual support.
For many entities, their ability to raise funds (issue bonds) under such an unfortunate time of duress would surely test their mettle.
Also at hand as a card to play for those guarantors who control central banks is the nuclear option of printing money. This would cause inflation through overspending and would additionally provide a chaotic escape for those in a deleveraging deflationary spiral, with the side effect of trashing the trust in their currency for generations to come.
Just a thought — maybe if the largest world banks meticulously coordinated simultaneous inflation we could construct a stable global recovery? To provide incentive to participating central banks to play fair, banks could first issue mutual currency swaps on an unprecedented scale, dwarfing today’s foreign reserve figures.
January 28th, 2009 at 1:57 am
The whole issue of implicit and explicit guarantees is a big one. The truth is no government wants a failed banking system on their watch. Failed banking systems are something the voter experiences and understands and can easily blame the government for.
Since the vast majority of countries’ deposit insurance schemes pay deposits in local currency, irrespective of the currency of the account, it’s a simple matter of getting the printing presses going. Especially easy for countries without a pegged currency and possibly not even deflationary (I’ll have to think further on that) in the near term.
The big challenge for emerging markets as the crisis broadens and lengthens will be as a result of home-host issues – eg a bank that makes up 40% of the banking system of a small emerging market country may be a subsidiary that represents only 1% of a larger group.
February 22nd, 2009 at 11:10 am
Hi Stephen,
Do Denmark have a limit of 300 000 Kr or it is unlimited now.
I reside in Abu Dhabi and understand that the guarantee is for an unlimited amount.
February 22nd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Yes, Denmark has had a temporary unlimited guarantee in place since October 2008. This measure is set to expire at the end of September 2010.
February 26th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
The hundred thousand dollar question is who is paying the insurance. Most Explicit Deposit Insurance have a fund that is paid for by a levy on the banks which is around 0.15% - 0.3% of deposits paid annually. A couple of biggies go and the fund won’t have the money to pay out.
The Isle of Man has a maximum annual payment by a Bank into this fund of 250,000 GBP. Even with a couple of dozen banks it doesn’t add up to much. Any shortfall it would need to get a loan for, and this ain’t the time to be begging for a loan.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:41 am
Deposit insurance was never designed to mitigate systemic risk, but to compensate individual depositors following the failure of an individual bank. With most deposit insurance funds around the world being about 2% of insured deposits, they’re clearly inadequate for system wide failures.
That’s not to say they should be abandoned, especially not now. Banks need assitance to protect their deposit base. Until recently, we weren’t in a world where big banks could fail and the reality is, it’s still unlikely the Unicredits, Raiffeisens and Erstes of the world will. And it’s in this instance where deposit insurance helps - you prevent mobile depositors from moving their cash abroad and you help depositors caught when more small banks fail - (allegedly) 26 or so have in Russia so far.
August 4th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
On May 20, 2009 the U.S.A. FDIC $250k limit was extended through December 31, 2013. Details can be found at http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/financial/2009/fil09022.html