Close Brothers Group plc is a substantial, independent merchant banking group, listed on the London Stock Exchange and based in the City of London.

Founded in 1878, Close Brothers Group plc is among the 250 largest companies in the U.K. by market capitalisation, with assets of £6bn at 31st July 2009.

Yes, we are highly profitable. At our last audited year-end, 31st July 2009, we recorded £113m profit before tax.

Our available funds from facilities, customer deposits and our own cash totalled over £4.7bn; double the size of our customer loan book of £2.4bn.

We have followed a highly conservative approach to all our activities for many years.

Our strategy is to generate a mix of types of income and not rely on one profit centre or sector. The vast majority of our lending is undertaken on a secured basis. Additionally, our loan book is relatively short term in duration, a significant proportion being repaid to us within 6 months.

We do not have exposure to the sub-prime mortgage market.

Close Brothers Limited is an extremely prudent bank and we maintain high liquidity levels at all times. We borrow long and lend short.

We have committed borrowing facilities with major UK and international banks.

We do not have exposure to emerging markets or derivatives.

We do not speculate in derivatives but only use them for hedging purposes in connection with our customer loan book. This is the "protection" for which these instruments were originally designed.

Yes, we have a short-term rating of F1 from Fitch Ratings Ltd. Short-term ratings answer the question "How safe is my money placed with this bank for periods up to one year?" .
F1 is defined by Fitch as "Highest credit quality. Indicates the strongest capacity for timely repayment of financial commitments.".

We are also rated by Moody's Credit opinion on Close Brothers Ltd, London, United Kingdom: Bank deposits A2/P1

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS can pay compensation to depositors if a bank is unable to meet its financial obligations. Most depositors - including most individuals and small businesses - are covered by the scheme.

In respect of deposits, an eligible depositor is entitled to claim up to £50,000. For joint accounts each account holder is treated as having a claim in respect of their share so, for a joint account held by two eligible depositors, the maximum amount that could be claimed would be £50,000 each (making a total of £100,000). The £50,000 limit relates to the combined amount in all the eligible depositors accounts with the bank, including their share of any joint account, and not to each separate account.

You can send money to us either electronically or by cheque. Your initial deposit must come from your nominated clearing bank account.

Yes, telephone conversations with Close Savings are recorded for monitoring and training purposes and for your protection.