Warning signs in the EU-----HSBC to charge for holding deposits

HSBC to charge for holding deposits - FT.com:
"...The unusual steps come after the European Central Bank became the first big central bank to announce a negative deposit rate — in effect a penalty on banks parking their surplus cash — last year.
Central banks in Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland have also imposed negative policy rates of between minus 0.25 per cent and minus 0.75 per cent as they battle deflation and currency pressures.
HSBC wrote to the banks that will be affected this week and will introduce the negative interest rates on August 1. 
It will not affect the deposits of individual or corporate customers."