Another "Northern Rock" exits Denmark

From the same part of the world as myself, I was very interested to see one of my recommended financial institutions exiting Denmark, scarcely a year after starting up the venture.

At the time, the offered probably the best savings interest rate in the country, and stirred up a lot of sleeping Danish banks into finally offering something half-decent for their own customers, since Denmark has never struck me as the most financially competitive banking nation.

Well, since then Northern Rock have had their own well-documented problems in the UK, which I covered on the Do it YourSelf ISA blog. Funny thing was, despite everyone racing to withdraw your savings, everyone's savings were protected up to £30k, and the way these banks lend to each other means hardly anyone can tell which are safe and which aren't.

Now the UK government has decided to streamline the Rock operations and I guess a Scandinavian branch was not part of the plan. Check out Eik Bank, the new owners of skandiaBank, an institution I also recommend, instead, as they are offering to match Northern Rock's deal.