Danish bank Spar Nord announces minus 0.75% interest on deposits

Spar Nord Bank A/S

03/10/2019 09:45

COPENHAGEN, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Danish lender Spar Nord
 SPNO.CO  on Thursday announced a minus 0.75% interest rate on
deposits by corporate and private clients, mirroring similar
moves by peers Sydbank  SYDB.CO  and Jyske Bank  JYSK.CO . 
    "It is now clear, that negative rates are not a passing
phenomenon," CEO Lars Moller said in a statement.
    "We believe it is both natural and in line with the monetary
policy intentions of the ECB and Denmark's Central Bank that
negative rates to a larger degree also materialise on the
deposit side," Moller said.
    Last month, Denmark's central bank cut its key deposit rate
to minus 0.75%, a record low among developed
economies. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2635FQ
    Earlier the same day, the European Central Bank cut interest
rates and resumed buying bonds. 
    Spar Nord's new rate will apply from Jan. 1 2020 to accounts
holding more than $110,000. It currently charges zero interest
on accounts for individuals and minus 0.5% on corporate
accounts.
    Spar Nord is Denmark's sixth biggest bank.
    ($1 = 6.8157 Danish crowns)

 (Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; editing by Jason Neely)
 ((Nikolaj.Skydsgaard@thomsonreuters.com;))