RSS feediceland
’Iceland is now better off than Ireland, German bank says
That’s Deutsche Bank, to be exact, in a note entitled “Iceland v Ireland: Is the difference really only one letter?”
In it, DB is exploring the differences between the two island economies — starting with a bit of historical background:
FTSE drops Iceland from benchmarks
Iceland on Thursday fell off the global map for investors who track stock market indices when it was dropped from key equity benchmarks. FTSE, the global equity index provider, has removed Iceland from the investable universe that make up its indices following the plunge in its financial markets after the collapse of its three main banks.
Iceland’s crisis “just like Madoff”, judge says
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Eva Joly – the judge working with the Icelandic government on the investigation into the collapse of the country’s financial system – compared the implosion of the island’s banks with Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
Iceland poised for foreign payback pact
Iceland’s parliament is close to approving the repayment of nearly €4bn lost by British and Dutch savers in a failed Icelandic bank – but with a series of conditions that could yet cause the pact to unravel,
Iceland’s FSA lines up more cases
Iceland’s top financial regulator is preparing to hand over more cases of suspected market manipulation to a special prosecutor as the probe into last year’s bank crash intensifies. Gunnar Andersen,
Kaupthing’s Wikigeysir
In the same way that glaciers occasionally disgorge relics from earlier times, frozen and perfectly preserved, so the defunct Icelandic bank Kaupthing has thrown up an apparent curiosity – a document detailing who owed the bank serious amounts of money just before it finally imploded.
Lex: Iceland’s rehabilitation
Iceland’s plan to save its banks looks good on the surface, but there are at least three problems with it.
First, the agreement to compensate British and Dutch retail savers the $5.5bn they deposited in internet bank Icesave requires parliament’s approval.
Iceland refreshes its banking system
Iceland is set to announce a €1.5bn recapitalisation of its banking sector and unveil a deal to hand control of two of the country’s healthy new banks to foreign creditors. The steps mark an important milestone in efforts to rebuild Iceland’s shattered banks and reintegrate the north Atlantic island nation into the international financial system.
Iceland looks towards EU membership
Iceland is preparing to make a formal bid for European Union membership within days as it turns to Brussels for help in stabilising its shattered economy. Its parliament on Thursday narrowly voted in favour of accession talks,
Come friendly banks and fall on Stroud
FT Alphaville has seen a copy of Stroud District Council’s internal audit report, detailing the fact that the council lost £3m through investments in failed Icelandic bank Glitnir.
The council has already been good enough to provide the unwashed with an executive summary of its report,
I(r)(c)eland vs CDS, redux
April 2008 (FT):
Details of the investigation are confidential, but the authorities are expected to pay close attention to movements in the credit default swap markets for Iceland’s banks. Spreads in these markets – a proxy for investors’ fears the banks will collapse – have ballooned from about 50 last August to more than 1,000,
Iceland nationalises Straumur-Burdaras
The global financial crisis claimed a clean sweep of Iceland’s largest banks on Monday after Straumur-Burdaras, the last of the four biggest Icelandic banks to remain independent, was nationalised. Straumur’s demise marks the end of a five-month fight to avoid nationalisation after Iceland’s three largest banks – Glitnir,
Iceland to restructure $3.6bn of debt
Iceland’s new government is working on a plan to restructure billions of dollars of its bonds held by foreign investors in efforts to restore confidence in its shattered economy. Foreign investors own up to ISK400bn ($3.6bn) in krona-denominated bonds which the central bank fears could be dumped once capital controls imposed during its banking crisis are removed.
Iceland ends threat to UK over assets
Iceland’s new government has dropped plans to take the UK government to the European Court of Human Rights over its use of anti-terror laws to freeze Icelandic assets, ending the most vicious spat between the UK and Iceland since the 1970s cod war.
ECB to markets: “No, we can’t”
That, at least, is UniCredit’s interpretation of the latest rheotoric from the European Central Bank and its officials, a stance which the bank’s chief economist Marco Annunziata describes as a “peculiar reversal of logic”.
Roubini: the UK is not Iceland
Nouriel, fresh from his trip to the UK last week, has written up his thoughts on the outlook for the UK. If you didn’t actually catch him last week, he appeared on a couple of BBC programmes that made for interesting viewing/listening.
Doom tweets
A reader points us to Nouriel’s latest Tweet, barely half an hour old:
Is the U.K. an Iceland 2? Nouriel is in London to find out.
- 22 minutes ago from web
Meanwhile, on the Icelandic front…
Iceland drops legal threat over bank
Britain has fended off the threat of a politically charged London lawsuit over its use of anti-terror powers to freeze billions of an Icelandic bank’s assets. Reykjavik conceded Tuesday that a High Court challenge to the freezing order made against Landsbanki in October stood scant success.
A spot of bother
Whittard of Chelsea, the 122-year old purveyor of teas, is said this morning to be teetering on the brink of administration.
From the BBC:
The Whittard of Chelsea chain of shops is understood to be close to calling in administrators after falling into financial difficulty.
Don’t mind the locals, Darling
Via Felix Salmon at Market Movers. A sign in a Reykjavik Draper’s, found on Flickr:
Related link:
Iceland – the Darling Tapes – FT Alphaville
Reykjavik borrows $10bn to stave off collapse
Iceland finalised loans totalling about $10bn on Thursday, roughly the size of its entire GDP, to prevent its economy collapsing. The move underlined the damage wrought by last month’s disintegration of the country’s banking system.
Iceland agrees deal on foreign bank deposits
Iceland said Sunday it had reached a preliminary deal with Britain and other European countries on guidelines for dealing with foreign depositors in a collapsed bank, in an agreement likely to clear the way for a stalled IMF support package.
Spot of Swiss
Switzerland’s famous for chocolate, cheese, knives, neutrality and banking. It’s the latter that could be problematic.
From VoxEU:
In this crisis, the strength of a bank’s balance sheet is of little consequence.
Iceland appoints London lawyers
The government of Iceland has drafted in one of London’s top litigation firms to explore possible claims against the Treasury stemming from the Nordic country’s banking collapse. The appointment of Lovells,
Iceland lifts rates to 18% from 12%
Iceland raised interest rates to a record 18 per cent from 12 per cent yesterday as a condition of a proposed $2bn IMF loan to help rescue the stricken island. The loan application will be presented to the IMF’s board tomorrow.
Geysergate – the mystery letter
Did Chancellor Alistair Darling read this letter?
A copy of this correspondence is currently doing the rounds in the Iceland. If genuine, it goes some way to substantiating the Icelandic claim that they had delivered a firm promise to protect UK deposits in Landsbanki’s Icesave accounts.
Iceland seeks to secure $4bn in loans
Iceland’s prime minister confirmed the country was hoping to secure $4bn in loans from its Nordic neighbours in addition to the $2bn loan it has applied for from the International Monetary Fund. Geir Haarde also said he would address calls for Iceland to join the EU but only after the crisis had been dealt with.
IMF unveils plans for $16.5bn Ukraine loan
The IMF yesterday announced an outline $16.5bn loan agreement with Ukraine, which is struggling to restore confidence in its currency and banking system. The loan, yet to be approved by the IMF’s executive board,
Iceland – the Darling Tapes
Could the blow-up that transpired between the UK and Iceland over Kaupthing’s UK-based deposits have come down to a simple misunderstanding in a phone conversation between UK Chancellor Alistair Darling and Icelandic Finance Minister Árni Mathiesen?
The Icelanders seem to think so and have been calling for said transpcript to be made public for the last week.