Iceland zegt nee tegen betalen banken-fiasco

[Bert Bakker]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Zo is dat! Daar moeten we streng tegen optreden.
Ik vermoed dat Wouter Bos dáárom de troepen terug wil hebben uit
Afghanistan.
Kan hij straks opstomen naar IJsland - om onze centen terug te halen...





2010/3/9 Cees Binkhorst <ceesbink at xs4all.nl>

> 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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