Straumur, the last remaining independent Icelandic bank, has fallen.
The following appeared on the bank’s website earlier this morning:
In spite of its strong capital position and the support of funding banks Straumur Burdaras Investment bank hf. (Straumur) believes that its liquidity position is no longer strong enough to sustain its activities.
The Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (IFSA) has therefore decided to assume the powers of a meeting of the shareholders of Straumur and immediately suspend the Board in its entirety. Further, the IFSA hereby appoints a Resolution Committee, which will take over all authority of the Board of Directors.
To which was forlornly added,
As a result of this Straumur is closed.
It’s not immediately clear in London what the situation of Teathers, Straumur’s UK-registered mid-market broker, was. In a statement this morning, the LSE confirmed that it was reviewing the firm’s Nomad status, while separately, employees said it had also had gone into administration.
Recommended reading – if you’ve got the time – is A Letter from Reyjkjavik, in this week’s New Yorker. Which includes – alongside an elegant lament – a very thorough takedown of the “marauder myth” that Iceland’s boom-time politicians created.