Kaupthing told us in a statement that it has a very strong funding position and strong ratings from three international ratings agencies. All Icelandic banks are experiencing wide CDS spreads, it said – but this volatility, has no real bearing on its true cost of funds. In private some Icelandic financiers believe they are being [...]

If you want proof of how sick this society really is, then this photograph says more than a thousand words. David Oddson, chief architect behind the society that brought us to the IceSave debacle, the man who privatized Landsbankinn into the hands of the men who destroyed Iceland’s reputation and financial credibility standing on Austurvollur [...]

Some compare the plan to the Versailles treaty’s harsh demands of Germany. A better analogy is the 1982 Latin American debt crisis, in which even Chile, poster boy of Chicago School economics, saw the state take over a mountain of private debt. A decade of stagnation followed. The same could be in store for Iceland. [...]

I am responsible for the Citizen’s Movement. I voted for them in the election and since the they have given me reasons to be both elated and puzzled. Citizen’s Movement MP, Thrainn Bertelsson shares my concerns when talking about his three colleguaes in the parliament to Frettabladid today. The other three, Thor Saari, Birgitta Jonsdottir [...]

“I’m not losing my nerve over this,” Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson said in an interview in Reykjavik on July 28. “Any deal is a bad deal and the whole matter stinks. It doesn’t change the fact that we have to resolve it.” From Bloomberg

My sympathy is truly there for the Dutch and British savers who lost their money.  I would like them to get back as much as possible. But I do not want to pay that money myself. I do not want lower public service or higher taxes. And I don’t want to be walking down main [...]

Like investors with any UK bank, Icesave customers receive full deposit protection of up to £35,000 (£70,000 for joint customers). This deposit protection is provided by the Icelandic compensation scheme and topped up from the UK financial compensation scheme. Contrary to some reports, in the extremely unlikely event of a claim ever needing to be [...]

“Definitely we would come to the rescue of a bank – definitely. “The banking system in Iceland is very large compared to the economy, but still we think we can maintain the problem because the balance sheet of the bank is very good.” “They have not been involved in sub-prime or buying housing debts from [...]

Writer Illugi Jokulsson recently posted an open letter to the first Icelandic dollar billionaire Bjorgolfur Thor on his website, asking him whether he would do anything in his power to cover what would remain of Iceland’s commitments because of IceSave once Landsbankinn’s assets will be sold. Bjorgolfur Thor and his father made his money in [...]

Sigurjon Th. Arnason and Halldor J. Kristjansson, CEO’s of Landsbankinn sent a letter to the Dutch Central Bank and the Icelandic Financial Authorities on September 23. last year where they said they were convinced that the Icelandic state would guarantee minimum deposits in Icelandic banks. Morgunbladid reports this today and has a copy of the [...]