RSS feedlandsbanki
’Iceland’s bank-berg, what lurked beneath (part II)
Continued from part I, in which FT Alphaville first discusses a portion of the investigative report into Iceland’s banking collapse written by Mark J Flannery.
In 2006, something very worrying for the Icelandic banking system took place.
Iceland’s bank-berg, what lurked beneath (part I)
In a word — quite possibly insolvency.
The full English version of the investigative report into Iceland’s banking collapse is not yet available on the special committee’s website, due to “unexpected difficulties.”
KPMG, PwC raided in Iceland probe
Police have raided the offices of KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Reykjavik, seizing documents and computer data as part of a probe into alleged criminal activity at three collapsed Icelandic banks,
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,
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.
Baugur on brink of administration
Baugur, the Icelandic investment group that bought various UK and other retailers in the last decade, could fall into administration after Landsbanki called in its £1bn debt. The Icelandic bank said Wednesday it had asked PwC to step in and run the business,
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.
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.
UK plans £3bn loan for Iceland
The UK and Iceland are hoping to agree a loan this week to cover up to 300,000 British depositors in Icesave, the online banking unit of Landsbanki, the collapsed Icelandic bank. A delegation from the Treasury and the Bank of England will visit Reykjavik to try and “wrap up”
UK and Iceland clash on crisis
Tensions between Britain and Iceland soared Thursday night after the nationalisation of the Nordic country’s largest banks put close to £800m of local authority money at risk and prompted Gordon Brown to threaten to seize the assets of Icelandic companies.
Kaupthing UK unit placed in administration
Part of Icelandic bank Kaupthing’s UK operations were placed in administration on Wednesday as the last big Icelandic bank teetered on the verge of collapse, forcing clients such as financier Robert Tchenguiz to sell positions.
Reykjavik nationalises Landsbanki
Iceland made immediate use of new emergency powers over the financial system on Tuesday to nationalise Landsbanki, the country’s second biggest bank, in the government’s biggest intervention so far in the crisis.
Iced
From the Icesave website, a savings account from Landsbanki offered to UK customers:
The Icesave account was consistently voted one of the best UK savings accounts thanks to its high interest rate.
Húrra! The Russians are coming
The Icelandic krona was down a staggering 17 per cent against the Euro earlier today.
Russia, though, rode to the rescue, giving the struggling Nordic economy a €4bn loan, nearly doubling the central bank’s dwindling currency reserves:
CDS update: Equities wake up to credit’s reality
This CDS report was written by Markit’s Gavan Nolan
It’s a rare trading session when the FTSE 100 moves by more in percentage terms than the Markit iTraxx Europe index. But that’s what happened today.
The news from Iceland: þetta er búið (Updated)
Treat with some scepticism the reassuring sounds from Iceland’s banks, politicians and leading companies. Listen to my man in Reykjavik.They are fighting powers that they are powerless to fight. It’s like tackling a storm raging in the sea with a teaspoon.
How do you say “This sucker is going down” in Icelandic? (Updated)
Whispers, unanswered telephone calls, stone-walling, firm “no comments”… Something was up in Iceland on Friday.
The immediate focus was Kaupthing – one of Iceland’s two largest banks. The price of its CDS has now spiked through 2500bp,
Landsbanki sells off units amid Iceland woes
Landsbanki, Iceland’s second biggest bank, on Wednesday sold most of its international operations – including UK-based Landsbanki Securities – to smaller rival Straumur-Burdaras in the latest sign of stress in the Icelandic financial sector.
What next for Iceland’s banks?
Further upheaval in the troubled Icelandic banking sector.
Straumur-Burdaras Investment Bank and Landsbanki Islands have signed an agreement, whereby Straumur acquires, subject to the approval of relevant regulatory and competition authorities,
Iceland’s top banks rebound
First-quarter results from Iceland’s three leading banks in the past week suggest that the Icelandic banking storm of 2008 may finally be blowing itself out and that, by most internationally accepted measures,
Iceland seeks to curb its banks
Iceland’s prime minister has urged the country’s leading banks to rein in expansion plans, in an effort to calm international investors’ concerns about the country’s economy. The remarks by Geir Haarde,
Cenkos quits Close talks
Cenkos Securities dramatically withdrew from talks to buy Close Brothers on Tuesday, triggering angry exchanges between the upstart UK stockbroker and the blue-blooded investment bank it had hoped to acquire for more than £1.5bn.
Cenkos rights issue for Close buy
Cenkos, the UK merchant bank, plans a “significant” rights issue to pay for larger rival Close Brothers, Cenkos said Monday. After weeks of hostility Cenkos confirmed it had entered talks with Close about a possible offer.
Close Brothers rejects bid as ‘wholly inadequate’
Close Brothers rejected a 950p-a-share offer for the company from a consortium led by Cenkos, headed by Andy Stewart, the co-founder of Collins Stewart. Close Bros said the offer, which at £1.41bn is a 25 per cent premium to where the shares were trading before the approach but a 7 per cent premium to the average value over the past year,
Iceland’s Landsbanki eyes Irish bid
Landsbanki is shrugging off concerns about the credit markets and preparing to table a formal bid for Irish Nationwide in the next few weeks that would value the former Dublin building society at about €1bn (£693m).
Lombard: Pain in the UK mid-market — only one way to go?
It’s hardly a great time for mid-market brokers – not least in the UK, where consolidation might be one answer, notes the FT’s Chris Hughes in Friday’s Lombard column.
Evolution Group and Panmure Gordon,
Low price for Bridgewell is the right price
Bridgewell, the corporate stockbroker, has agreed to be taken over by Landsbanki, the Icelandic bank, after less than a year as a public company and talks that “dragged on for eight weeks”, notes Lombard.
Bridgewell deal a herald of broker consolidation
So, Bridgewell has recommended a £60.3m offer from Landsbanki of Iceland. A statement on Thursday said the offer is worth 125p per Bridgewell share, although only 12.5p of that is in cash.
Thursday’s deal brings together the businesses of Teather & Greenwood,
Bridgewell bid talks reach impasse
Negotiations about a possible acquisition of Bridgewell, the investment bank, by Landsbanki, its Icelandic competitor, have stalled over price. It is now unlikely that Bridgewell will achieve the 140p a share target its board is understood to have set when it first announced it was in talks with potential bidders in March.
Bridgewell receives indicative bid
Bridgewell is understood to have received an indicative offer from Landsbanki, the Icelandic bank, valuing the mid-market stockbroker at about £52m, the FT reports. The offer is worth at or close to 128p a share,