The scale of what confronts Ms Hjaltested and other Icelanders is only just becoming clear. According to the IMF, the failure of the banks may cost taxpayers more than 80% of GDP. Relative to the economy’s size, that would be about 20 times what the Swedish government paid to rescue its banks in the early [...]

There has been a debate on whether or not high-ranked employees of the banks that collapsed are the right people to be in charge of the new banks that were built on their ruins. The argument goes that they are in positions to hide or destroy evidence that could possibly be incriminating of themselves or [...]

The focus has been on FL Group and Glitnir’s ways of doing business lately. Morgunbladid reveals today what everybody suspected, that this is standard business practice amongst those who were lucky enough to own the banks, so much that it could be called the Icelandic way (my suggestion). When you are in control on both [...]

The revelations coming out regarding FL Group and its merry management team are getting wilder by the day. Palmi Haraldsson who one day was caught price-fixing as the head of the national coalition for vegetable producers and the next day turned up as billionaire investor, seems to have a hobby which is collecting shelf-companies to [...]

This could be more memorable than the Olympic silver won by the handball team this summer, although a lot less pleasant. Paul Krugman of the IMF has suggested that getting Iceland back on its feet might turn out to be the most expensive restructuring in history adjusted for the size of the economy.

In a free market, those who grow their businesses responsibly and succeed are rewarded. At least that’s what we are taught in business schools. In the Icelandic market those who borrow heavily, run their businesses irresponsibly and know the right people are rewarded. Recently, Ardegi the limited company that owned the Icelandic franchises of fashion [...]

We know what sort of management Glitnir is under. Birna Einarsdottir is allowed to manage the bank although she manages to lose track of 200 million of her own money. We know that Glitnir’s owners borrowed money from the bank to finance leveraged acquisitions in other sectors, skewing the competitiveness of the market greatly. We [...]

The Financial Authorities have cleared Birna Einarsdottir, the CEO of Glitnir of wrongdoings in connection with her purchase of 200 million ISK in Glitnir stock. Apparently Birna was never charged for the stock and therefore did not lose any money when the bank collapsed in the autumn. Which begs the question, would you bank with [...]

Travellers who booked flights direct through XL are not protected by the Government-backed ATOL scheme. But creditors, including Icelandic bank Straumur, will benefit from the sale of shares in XL’s European operations. From the Mirror’s website

It is barely two weeks until the darkest day of the year, when the sun will only knock on our doors for 3-4 hours. Egill Helgason, journalist of Silfur Egils has been in the forefront of open discussions about the economic situation, the causes and consequences. His blog is full of news the regular media [...]