from transferring their savings to Irish banks. In November 2007 a comprehensive report was published by the EU, with a description and comparison of each Insurance Guarantee Scheme in place for all EU member states. The report concluded that many of the schemes had restricted the appliance of guarantees to retail consumers, usually private individuals, although small or medium (SME) businesses were also sometimes placed into the retail category. All schemes are do not apply for big wholesale customers under the argument the latter are often in a better position than retail customers to assess the financial risks of particular firms with whom they engage or are able themselves to reduce their risk by using several financial banks/institutes. The report recommends this practice to continue, as limiting of the scheme's to "retail customers (excl./incl. SME businesses)" helps to reduce the cost of the scheme but also helps to increase its available funds for those who actually need the guarantee when it is activated for the protection of claimants. By country In October 2008, many countries in the EU increased the amount covered by their deposit insurance schemes. Since these amounts are typically encoded in legislation, there was a certain delay before the new amounts were formally valid. Footnote: (*) According to Art. 7 (1a) of Directive 94/19/EC all EU Member States were expected to increase the amount to EUR 100,000 as of 31 December 2010. This is the case in all EU countries. For countries with non-EURO currency the limits are near to EUR 100,000 e.g. in Denmark DKK 750,000 which is near to that limit, depending on EUR-DKK rate. Rest of Europe Albania Deposit insurance in Albania is handled by the Albanian Deposit Insurance Agency (Agjencia e Sigurimit të Depozitave) and covers deposits up to a maximum of ALL2,500,000 (around US$23,000). Andorra Deposit insurance in Andorra is handled by the Institut Nacional Andorrà de Finances and covers deposits up to a maximum limit of EUR100,000 made by natural persons and legal entities, irrespective of their nationality or domicile. Belarus Deposit insurance in Belarus is handled by the Agency of Deposit Compensation (Агенцтва гарантаванага пакрыцця банкаўскіх укладаў) and covers 100% of deposits, but only those belonging to individuals, not organizations. Iceland Deposit insurance in Iceland is handled by Depositors' and Investors' Guarantee Fund (Tryggingarsjóður) and covers a minimum of 20,887 euros. However, the fund was drastically insufficient to cover the