Quotes from Iceland PM Geir Haarde

Fella

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/3153061/Financial-crisis-Iceland-PM-warns-its-every-country-for-itself.html

"It's every country for itself"

Damage to Iceland's international reputation is "a risk we have to take".

"A lot of the banks' business is in Britain, so it is likely that Britain might well be affected"


OK short of telling UK depositors to bend over & grease up I don't see how he can make it much plainer that we'll be shafted.

Is there any possibility whatsoever of the UK Govt stepping in at some point? Or do we just let Iceland b1tch-slap us around without a murmer? Where is all of GB's "no UK savers will lose a penny" bravado now?

mybrainhurts

Fella wrote: »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/3153061/Financial-crisis-Iceland-PM-warns-its-every-country-for-itself.html

"It's every country for itself"

Damage to Iceland's international reputation is "a risk we have to take".

"A lot of the banks' business is in Britain, so it is likely that Britain might well be affected"


OK short of telling UK depositors to bend over & grease up I don't see how he can make it much plainer that we'll be shafted.

Is there any possibility whatsoever of the UK Govt stepping in at some point? Or do we just let Iceland b1tch-slap us around without a murmer? Where is all of GB's "no UK savers will lose a penny" bravado now?

Good question. Write to your MP via https://www.writetothem.com and ask why Landsbanki assets in the UK have not been frozen.

baby_boomer

mybrainhurts wrote: »

Write to your MP via www.writetothem.com and ask why Landsbanki assets in the UK have not been frozen.

It was actually a poor question from Fella. You don't get into a "!!!!! slapping" war with international banks & governments.

Unless your MP is to the left of John Cruddas, the only honest reply is that his would cost the UK £trillions in future if we drove foreign banks away from the City by adding to our risk profile by such irresponsible behaviour.

GeorgeHowell

I have no time fro Brown and his government. But there were plenty of warnings about the situation that might apply if a foreign bank went under, including from the FSA. People chose not to listen because they wanted the high interest rates. It's a bit rich now blaming Brown and expecting the UK taxpayer to step in no questions asked.

Former_MSE_Dan

This has been added to our regularly updated Safe Savings article, with the really important bit in bold

STOP PRESS. Updated 17.30 Tue 7 Oct. Icesave temporarily stops withdrawals.

Icesave is reported to have gone into technical receivership, meaning its assets have been taken over by the Icelandic government and it has effectively been nationalised (like Northern Rock was), see this FT article.

We’re constantly speaking to Icesave, the Treasury and the FSCS to monitor the situation. All updates will appear here and be included in the free weekly email.

While the bank has stopped withdrawals, that doesn’t mean it is now bust, though at best its probably a 50-50 likelihood. Here are the crucial points.

• The bank is still operational.
• No compensation arrangements have been triggered (this only happens if the bank isn’t still operational).
• If compensation arrangements are triggered it will therefore have been after the new £50,000 level introduced today.
• All UK savers are thus protected up to £50,000 per person in Icesave (£100,000 for joint accounts).
• The first €20,000 (this may’ve been upped to €50,000 on some reports of a European meeting today) will come from the Icelandic compensation scheme.
• If a claim were needed, it will probably involve filling out just one form to the FSCS, you would not have to write to Iceland.
• If you have money in a cash ISA, whether you would be able to keep the ISA status isn’t yet clear. However after Northern Rock, the government ensured all ISA savers kept their status, even those who’d withdrawn money, so it is very likely.

As for the strength of the Icelandic compensation scheme, there are reports, yet to be 100% confirmed, that the Icelandic government is promising to ensure all necessary compensation will be met and it will fund the scheme.

We spoke to the Treasury this morning about whether, in the very unlikely event of the Icelandic scheme not being able to cover its obligation of the first, would it step in and make sure UK savers were covered for the whole £50,000?

Late this afternoon it finally called to say "The UK government is working with the Icelandic government to protect UK savings up to £50,000", and we're hoping for more soon. We interpret this to mean that over and above that level, it's up to the Icelandic government

However, there is no FINAL answer, discussions are ongoing and this article will be updated as soon as anything further is decided. For more info, read my full blog.