I've just received a letter from Nationwide International, an Isle of Man bank, saying that they're to close and that all existing accounts are to be transferred to Nationwide Building Society. And so yet another offshore bank popular with UK expats closes.

The letter tries to be very reassuring, basically saying that nothing is going to change for customers. But if that's the case, why close the bank in the first place?

Anyone got any insights on the reasoning behind what's happening?

The way I read the letter was that they will become the Isle of Man branch of the Nationwide but will continue to use the trading name of Nationwide International.

There is going to be no changes in accounts or even procedures, in fact there seems to be no changes at all.

Nationwide International has always been a subsidiary of The Nationwide, I suspect they are just streamlining their operation.

I have to say that there was nothing in the letter that concerned me.

I've still not received my letter but at least they now have something about it on their website:

http://www.nationwideinternational.com/transfer-of-business.htm

My interpretation of the letter is that the parent company Nationwide is transferring the assets of NWI onto their balance sheet directly to boost their Tier 1 capital.

The key changes to consider maybe are the health of the parent company that the isle of man accounts are being absorbed into, the deposit guarantee status compared to before as the legal jurisdiction is changing, any new information exchange requirements now that this is no longer truly offshore and whether being onshore now means our accounts would be part of any future bail in if nationwide ever runs into trouble. One question i have is why they needed to do this, did they have balance sheet problems that required our deposits to stabilise?

The deposit guarantee position doesn't change, it's still under IOM jurisdiction, ditto the funds on deposit remain offshore. Bail-in concerns however are now an issue of major potential concern since our accounts are now effectively in the IOM branch of NW.

ChiangMai, good points, regarding the bail in point, right now the UK is looking safe but in the longer term there is a lot of debt building up there and offshore deposits will be a nice target if the situation deteriorates again. I don't think it is necessary to take action now but I certainly won't put more money there and will watch very carefully.

Yes I agree, this is not a right now issue but it does need watching closely, it amazes me that I still have money in NWI, a large chunk as it happens, given that it's earning a paltry 1.7%, trouble is that nobody else wants it, sad!

ChiangMai, good points, regarding the bail in point, right now the UK is looking safe but in the longer term there is a lot of debt building up there and offshore deposits will be a nice target if the situation deteriorates again. I don't think it is necessary to take action now but I certainly won't put more money there and will watch very carefully.

Offshore deposits are a target for nothing except taxation where appropriate.

Yes I agree, this is not a right now issue but it does need watching closely, it amazes me that I still have money in NWI, a large chunk as it happens, given that it's earning a paltry 1.7%, trouble is that nobody else wants it, sad!

Nobody wants what?

ChiangMai, good points, regarding the bail in point, right now the UK is looking safe but in the longer term there is a lot of debt building up there and offshore deposits will be a nice target if the situation deteriorates again. I don't think it is necessary to take action now but I certainly won't put more money there and will watch very carefully.

Offshore deposits are a target for nothing except taxation where appropriate.

Sounds like quite a naive comment, bail in risk is now a reality, taxation risk though is very low for non residents.