New 180 Day Notice Account Offers Premium Rates to Personal Investors

ST PETER PORT, Guernsey, December 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

• New 180 day notice account launched
• Sterling offshore deposit product
• Minimum balance £10,000, earn up to 2.75% gross/AER on deposits of £100,000 plus
  

Skipton International, the Guernsey based savings and local mortgage specialist, has launched a new variable rate savings account targeting both Channel Islands and offshore individual savers, with interest rates of up to 2.75% gross/AER on offer. The International Select 180 account offers two interest rate tiers, with balances from £10,000 to £99,000 earning 2.50% gross/AER and accounts with over £100,000 on deposit achieving the top interest rate of 2.75% gross/AER. Annual interest on both business and personal deposits is paid on 05 July.

Monthly income options are also available paying 2.25% gross monthly and 2.50% gross monthly on top tier deposits. Monthly interest is paid on the 05th of each month and interest can be capitalised to the account or paid away to a suitable account in the holder's name.

Withdrawals for sums of £1000 or more are only permitted after 180 days' notice has been given. The minimum deposit is £10,000 and the maximum investment allowed is £5 million.

Commenting on the new account Skipton International managing director Jim Coupe says, "In the current markets, our customers have been asking us for deposit choice and security. We now have one of the widest ranges of easy access and notice deposit accounts offshore and as part of the fourth largest Building Society Group in the UK, we can certainly offer customers confidence in their investment."

Skipton International Ltd offers a range of sterling offshore deposit accounts and is part of Skipton Building Society, the fourth largest in the UK with over £14 billion assets.

Editor's notes:

1. AER stands for Annual Equivalent Rate and illustrates what the rate would be if interest was paid and added each year.

2. Skipton International Limited (SIL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Skipton Building Society (SBS), the UK's 4^th largest building society with nearly £14 billion assets.

3. SIL is licensed under the Banking Supervision (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 1994, as amended.

4. Skipton Building Society has given an undertaking agreeing to discharge the liabilities of SIL in so far as SIL is unable to discharge them out of its own assets and whilst SIL remains a subsidiary of Skipton Building Society.

5. As a Licensed Bank in Guernsey, Skipton International Limited is a participant in the Guernsey Banking Deposit Compensation Scheme (the "Scheme") established by The Banking Deposit Compensation Scheme (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Ordinance, 2008 (the "Ordinance"). The following is a brief summary of the Scheme, but is not intended as a substitute for the actual wording of the Ordinance, a copy of which is available on request.

- The Scheme only applies to 'qualifying deposits', which broadly means deposits made by natural persons for their own benefit; with a few limited exceptions such as, for example, deposits made by trustees of retirement annuity trust schemes, the Scheme does not apply to companies, trusts, partnerships or charities.

- The Scheme will provide compensation in the event that a Licensed Bank is unable to repay its depositors. Under normal circumstances, payment will be made within 3 months of receipt of a valid claim form.

- Compensation is limited to a maximum of £50,000 per individual claimant; in the case of a joint account each depositor would be entitled.

- Total Scheme compensation in any five year period is limited to £100 million. If claims exceed this cap, compensation would be reduced pro rata. The cap also means that compensation in respect of any one bank cannot exceed £100 million.

- The amount payable may be reduced if the Bank has any contractual right of set-off against the account. The Scheme is entitled to recover compensation from any funds subsequently paid out by the Bank.

- Further information and a leaflet about the Scheme is available at:

Website:http://www.dcs.gg
Telephone:[phone]
Post:P.O. Box 380, St Peter Port, GY1 3FY

6. Deposits made with SIL are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme established under the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

7. SIL places funds with SBS and thus its financial standing is linked to SBS. Publicly available information, including reports and accounts, is available from http://www.skipton.co.uk.

8. Copies of the latest SIL audited accounts are available on request.

For more information on Skipton International savings products, visit http://www.skiptoninternational.com or call [phone]

Media contacts: Please contact:
Guy Stephenson/Jennifer Duffy
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