Cantona bid sparks call for change
Account-holders advised to change their banks rather than follow Eric Cantona’s plea for a “run on the banks
AS BANKS wait to see whether account-holders follow Eric Cantona’s call to withdraw their cash today, other groups are looking at different ways to get better service.
One, Sauvons les Riches, says Eric Cantona has, if nothing else, shown the financial power of the banks is only because of the confidence – or laziness – of their investors.
Now, backed by Green MEP Pascal Canfin, it has launched a website showing people to ways to move their accounts to another bank: jechangedebanque.org.
The site proved immediately popular: and at 10.00 had crashed.
Sauvons les Riches says it is better than a run on the banks and allows people to choose banks with more ethical business practices, such as NEF or Crédit Coopératif or even the mainstream banks’ accounts with the Finansol label to denote the funding of social projects.
Banks only hold enough money to meet the normal day-to-day needs of clients and any impromptu demand for cash could cause problems if done on the massive scale envisaged by Cantona.
However, the banking system has in-built safeguards and virtually none of the 40,000 branches will give out more than €2,000 if the client has not called in advance.
The Fonds de Garantie des Dépôts safety net has only €1.6 billion, while account-holders’ deposits total €420bn.
Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker said Cantona’s appeal was “totally irresponsible”.
Photo: Georges Biard
