Iceland zegt nee tegen betalen banken-fiasco

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Deze volksopstand wordt met lede ogen gevolgd in Griekenland, Ierland,
Oost-Europa en zelfs Engeland, uit zorg dat het besmettelijk kan blijken
te zijn.

Zolang door ons geaccepteerd wordt dat Balkenende 'voor goud gaat'
zonder op het pluche van de 2e Kamer te willen plaatsnemen, hoeft hij
niet bezorgd te zijn dat we zelfs maar in de buurt van de IJslanders komen.

Immers daar is de Officier van Justitie die Icesave moet onderzoeken de
zoon van een van de grootste aandeelhouders.

Hoezo belangenverstrengeling?

Groet / Cees

http://www.openleft.com/viewQuickHits.do#13670
      As Icelandic President Olafur R. Grimsson explained this week:
"Ordinary people, farmers and fishermen, taxpayers, doctors, nurses,
teachers, (were) being asked to shoulder through their taxes a burden
that was created by irresponsible greedy bankers."

     Fortunately, Iceland is a democracy. So those farmers and
fishermen, taxpayers, doctors, nurses, teachers got to decide whether
they were inclined to pay for a bank bailout.

     They shouted "no" as loudly as that word could be uttered.

     An early analysis suggests that roughly 98 percent of the
Icelanders who cast valid ballots rejected the "deal."

     Only 2 percent supported it, while 5 percent of ballots were
invalidated.

     London's Telegraph newspaper put the vote in the proper perspective
when it declared: "On Saturday Icelanders became the world's first
rebels against the idea of clearing up after the mess made by a reckless
private bank. This popular insurrection has been watched anxiously by
the governments in Greece, Ireland, eastern Europe – and even Britain –
concerned that this defiance could become contagious."

I am not a criminal, insists billionaire behind Icesave
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/7393743/I-am-not-a-criminal-insists-billionaire-behind-Icesave.html

One of the billionaires behind collapsed internet bank Icesave and its
parent Landsbanki has denied being "a criminal" in a dramatic interview
about Iceland's banking crash.


By Rowena Mason
Published: 9:32PM GMT 07 Mar 2010

Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson spoke out in a new film ahead of Iceland's
crucial referendum on whether to bear the €4bn (£3.6bn) cost of
Icesave's failure.

Over the weekend, more than 90pc of Iceland's electorate voted against a
deal that would see the country pay back Britain and Holland for
compensating 400,000 savers in the two countries.


       Sigurjon Arnason quizzed in ongoing Landsbanki investigation
     *
       Letters reveal UK's battles with Iceland over bank crisis
     *
       UK freezing of Landsbanki assets 'as damaging to Iceland as
Treaty of Versailles'
     *
       XL highlights extent of Icelandic investment in the UK

Mr Björgólfsson and his father, Björgólfur Gudmundsson, the former owner
and chairman of West Ham FC, owned 41pc of Landsbanki before it
collapsed in October 2008. Asked what he would say to people who
describe the bank's owners as criminal, Mr Björgólfsson replied: "I have
nothing to say to them. I am not a criminal and never have been." He
then detaches his microphone and walks off.

Mr Björgólfsson, whose wealth has fallen from $3.5bn (£2.3bn) at its
peak to $1bn last year according to Forbes, denies any wrongdoing in
relation to the crash in the new film, Maybe I Should Have. The
documentary has been shown in Icelandic cinemas and was brought to
Britain last week by its director, Gunnar Sigurdsson, whose attempt to
trace the billions lost in the banks takes him to London, Guernsey,
Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands.

Asked what happened to the bank's money, Mr Björgólfsson claimed: "When
you lose capital in this way, a lot of money goes to money-heaven. The
value that has been wiped off the stock markets, the deposits in the
banks and investment funds has gone. [It] has evaporated. It's a common
misunderstanding to ask: where did the money go?"

Attempts to negotiate a better Icesave deal are set to continue this
week, with Chancellor Alistair Darling indicating that he understood
Iceland's position: "The fundamental point for us is that we get our
money back - but on the terms and conditions and so on, we're prepared
to be flexible."

Over the past 18 months, there have been demonstrations in Reykjavik
against the idea ordinary people should pay the debt of a commercial
bank, with particular concern about the 5pc interest rate demanded by
Britain and Holland. Public anger has intensified since the news that
the authorities are pursuing 43 cases of potential fraud in Iceland's
financial institutions, including Landsbanki and rivals, Kaupthing and
Glitnir.

Icesave was set up and marketed to British savers with high interest
rates in October 2006, when analysts were already warning that the banks
were financially unstable.

Related Articles    *
Iceland corruption investigator Eva Joly may quit in frustration
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/5507616/Iceland-corruption-investigator-Eva-Joly-may-quit-in-frustration.html
Iceland corruption investigator Eva Joly may quit in frustration
Iceland's anti-corruption expert, Eva Joly, investigating "suspicions of
criminal actions" at Kaupthing, Glitnir and Landsbanki, has threatened
to resign if the inquiry continues to be dogged by lack of political will.
Eva Joly, who advised on France's Elf Aquitaine scandal and the UK's BAE
inquiry, said the scale of potential corruption at the Icelandic banks
should be treated as one of the important financial investigations
Europe has ever known.

However, she has raised concern about the potential conflict of interest
represented by Iceland's state prosecutor, Valtyr Sigurdsson, whose son
is the chief executive of Exista – the major shareholder in Kaupthing.

Ragna Árnadóttir, Iceland's justice minister, is now drafting a law to
create another state prosecutor and Mr Sigurdsson has declared that he
will not participate in the banking investigation.

Ms Joly also called on Iceland to appoint a much larger team of
investigators, including three senior officials to look into allegations
of corruption at each of the three failed banks.

In a television interview, she criticised a lack of political will in
the Icelandic government to bring anyone who has committed economic
crimes to justice.

Iceland's special investigation team is now working on more than 30
potential cases relating to the banking system, after Kaupthing, Glitnir
and Landsbanki collapsed and were taken over by the Icelandic government
last October.

The meltdown of its financial system and currency forced the UK Treasury
to pick up a huge bill to compensate 300,000 savers with Landsbanki's
Icesave. Last week, Iceland negotiated a deal to pay customers up to
€22,000 (£18,700) back each.

The investigation will cover institutions that attracted billions of
pounds in deposits from thousands of UK citizens, businesses, councils
and charities at its centre.

Gylfi Magnusson, Iceland's business minister, later conceded there are
similarities within the banking system and failed US energy company Enron.

Last month, Icelandic police raided 10 addresses and identified several
suspects in connection with an inquiry into alleged market manipulation
at Kaupthing.

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