Interest Rates Stay High On Guernsey

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com, London

09 October 2007

Guernsey-based bank Scarborough Channel Islands Limited has re-launched its Rollover Bond, which now pays a rate of up to 6.50%, fixed for six months, can now be opened with a minimum of GBP5,000 (down from GBP50,000), making it accessible to more people.

In addition, investors may now make one withdrawal of up to 25% of the opening balance, without notice or loss of interest, prior to maturity and can also close the bond in an emergency with 90 days loss of interest. After 6 months investors have the option to withdraw or transfer their funds, or they can simply allow SCIL to ‘rollover’ the funds automatically into the current issue of the 6 month rollover bond available at the time.

Commenting on the re-launched 6 Month Rollover Bond, Tony Burdin, Managing Director of SCIL, said: ‘The Rollover Bond has proved popular so far with investors who want to achieve a good guaranteed rate on their cash without tying up their money for too long.

‘However, we’ve had considerable feedback from smaller investors who are attracted to the product but perhaps don’t have large sums to put away – which is why we’ve re-launched it to make it more inclusive.’

The Rollover Bond can be held for the minimum term of 6 months, after which the account holder has 14 days to either withdraw part or all of the funds, or simply do nothing and allow SCIL to rollover the investment in to the latest issue for a further 6 months. Tony added – ‘The ease of administration, combined with the new access features, are likely to be attractive to both personal and professional investors.’

Scarborough Channel Islands Limited is based in the Bailiwick of Guernsey and is the offshore deposit-taking arm of the Scarborough Building Society Group. SCIL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Scarborough Building Society and is regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.

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