Most American consumers do their banking with one or more of the 10 biggest U.S. banks, like Bank of America or Wells Fargo, with more than $10 trillion in assets.
In any case, it's safe to say few, if any, Americans bank with Raiffeisenbank Gmund am Tegernsee, a small co-operative bank outside Munich, Germany.
But now it's vital Americans know what's happening in the tiny bank with the big name. The European Central Bank's negative rate on deposits has forced the small co-op to implement negative interest rates (what it creatively calls a "custodian charge") of its own... on private clients.
Yes, while the majors like JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, and ABN Amro have been moving toward negative deposit rates for their business clients for some time, this is a shocking and, unfortunately, early example of private citizens having to pony up for central bank madness.
It's not hard to fathom that soon enough, this will affect more and more people in more countries at different income levels. As I've said, the consequences of negative-interest-rate policies - financial repression - are soon to be widely felt.
That's why some of the world's ultimate "in the know" investors are making a beeline for gold right now.
Tags:Gold
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