Iceland hires London’s top law firm

rchddap1

No-one will know the full details of anything. As so much will have been done and said behind closed doors. Part of the problem is that the problem with the global banks has been brewing for quite a while....and I think the governments knew it. So when iceland asked for help it was a simple case of 'can't' because they were expecting to have to bail out the banks at some point and the money just wasn't available.

Personally I don't think any one side is 'innocent' in all this. I wish everyone could just work together for a change to sort this out. Perhaps a court case would be useful and it will finally sort out all the legalities of things.

JayTee99_2

Skuld wrote: »

We really do feel for you regular savers in the UK, and I personally think that it is our moral obligation to pay every single penny that we are supposed to pay...
If I have to dig a hole with bloody hands for 50 years, I would do so insted of having my nation stamped as thieves..

Cheers

Don't get me wrong, MOST of us know that there are some decent, honest folk in Iceland.

The really difficult thing for us is how the PM, Haarde has handled the situation as regards to 'foreign' savers/investors.

The one thing that i personally find difficult to 'get my head around' is the fact that Haarde has, apparently, very little criticism or opposition.
I did see a BBC TV report, i think last Sunday, showing around 2,000 people marching in Reykjavik, past the PM's house, culminating in speeches, also attended by a former Finance Minister.

But that was only 2,000 people. Someone said in another thread that around 40,000 people had signed up in 2 days to show support on a website!

That signals to me that the vast majority of the people of the country , while maybe not entirely happy with Haarde, are still supporting him.

i find it quite difficult to understand how someone who has damaged their country so badly, first as Finance Minister, then as PM, is allowed to remain in office.
That, in my opinion, is the perhaps the wrong message to signal to the world?

But i do feel some concern for the 'ordinary guy', no fault of theirs, but still likely to be hurt by this mess.
We know where most of the blames lies for this situation, and i don't believe it's all down to our govt or the 'global credit crunch'.

JayTee99_2

rchddap1 wrote: »

No-one will know the full details of anything. As so much will have been done and said behind closed doors.

unless, of course, they are high level talks with members of the Icelandic govt, who will then 'helpfully' leak full transcripts to the media

Scottish_Icesaver

Skuld wrote: »

For SOME STRANGE REASON all transfers to Iceland seem to be frozen in the UK..

I could say the same --- for some strange reason I cannot transfer my money out of Iceland.

the answer to the question why is the same for both of us - because the Icelandic/UK governments have frozen our cash. Both have used different and possibly questionable parts of their law to do so but in they end both have looked for the means to justify their ends.

While I can understand, and really feel, for the Icelandic people the Icelandic politicians have a lot to answer for. Over the last few weeks they have certainly shown that they're good at 'politics' with all sorts of statements and gestures but the real question, for the Icelandic people, is whether they're any good at running their country and digging Iceland out of the current mess. From what I know/see (which admittedly is little) they are simply trying to pay an unacceptably low price for the funds that their country needs. All taxpayers, hence all people, from the affected countries will have to pay their share ... but the reponsibility starts in Iceland.

I, for one, don't forget the efforts of the Icelandic people during WW2 and since then and know that there's a solution out there. Countless lives in Iceland and beyond (look at the Kaupthing Isle of Man and Landsbanki Guernsey websites) are being destroyed by this crisis and it's time for Haarde and co to stop making it worse for these people. I assume Haarde is fine with his large reserves of unfrozen cash from Landsbanki.

TehJumpingJawa

JayTee99 wrote: »

Now chan4 news are saying 'everyone' was aware problems with the Icelandic banks much earlier..



Watch again

'

If the stability of the Icelandic banks was in doubt more than 6 months ago, how could Icesave continued claiming to be a safe investment right up until it's assets were frozen
Surely acquiring peoples money by lying is fraud.

Optimist

TehJumpingJawa wrote: »

If the stability of the Icelandic banks was in doubt more than 6 months ago, how could Icesave continued claiming to be a safe investment right up until it's assets were frozen
Surely acquiring peoples money by lying is fraud.

You could say that about any bank including Northern Rock. Bradford and Bingley HBOS etc. The question surely should by why did the FSA continue to give these banks a clean bill of health ?

Count_Dante

JayTee99 wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, MOST of us know that there are some decent, honest folk in Iceland.

The really difficult thing for us is how the PM, Haarde has handled the situation as regards to 'foreign' savers/investors.

The one thing that i personally find difficult to 'get my head around' is the fact that Haarde has, apparently, very little criticism or opposition.
I did see a BBC TV report, i think last Sunday, showing around 2,000 people marching in Reykjavik, past the PM's house, culminating in speeches, also attended by a former Finance Minister.

But that was only 2,000 people. Someone said in another thread that around 40,000 people had signed up in 2 days to show support on a website!

That signals to me that the vast majority of the people of the country , while maybe not entirely happy with Haarde, are still supporting him.

i find it quite difficult to understand how someone who has damaged their country so badly, first as Finance Minister, then as PM, is allowed to remain in office.
That, in my opinion, is the perhaps the wrong message to signal to the world?

But i do feel some concern for the 'ordinary guy', no fault of theirs, but still likely to be hurt by this mess.
We know where most of the blames lies for this situation, and i don't believe it's all down to our govt or the 'global credit crunch'.

It's because he is their national leader - the guy standing up to foreigners. It is just like in Britain. If you once thought Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling were idiots but you had money in Icesave when it collapsed, you now think of them as heroes and statesmen of genius.

JayTee99_2

TehJumpingJawa wrote: »

If the stability of the Icelandic banks was in doubt more than 6 months ago, how could Icesave continued claiming to be a safe investment right up until it's assets were frozen
Surely acquiring peoples money by lying is fraud.

Sadly, that has been a common theme in this crisis, banks and Building Socs apparently not telling the whole truth. Even here in UK, such as B&B who even asked shareholders for more money (just before they were 'nationalised' and the savings arm sold on to Santander)
probably means, in future, that any such claims won't automatically remove doubt.


But it's now beginning to look like the govt, BOE, FSA and Treasury. not to mention the IMF were indeed aware of underlying problems with the Icelandic banks.

and worse, clearly everyone felt they were too big to be bailed out.
but that raises the question, given that situation, what could the UK govt do?
true, it's a pity that procedures weren't in place to have maybe prevented UK exposure.
But that is a question for future regulation.

If our govt had given any hint of problems, then going by the past couple of weeks, Iceland would have immediately placed ALL the blame on UK govt.
since this very thread is discussing that issue, " Iceland unhappy with recent events, considering possible damage claims against UK "

It looks like the UK govt decided they had no choice but to keep quiet and hope for the best, then bail out the retail depositors in the worst case scenario.

But with this recent disclosure, it now seems fairly inevitable that UK govt will also need to fund the institutions' losses, one way or another. Maybe helped by the sale of assets etc.

JayTee99_2

Count_Dante wrote: »

It's because he is their national leader - the guy standing up to foreigners. It is just like in Britain. If you once thought Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling were idiots but you had money in Icesave when it collapsed, you now think of them as heroes and statesmen of genius.

i can see why some retail depositors might want to thank GB/AD, but it's difficult for the Icelanders to 'look on the bright side' when it comes to Haarde, i would have thought

Ok, he guaranteed their domestic accounts, but that won't count for much if he can't stabilise the krona..

supporting him, suggests to me that they are happy with his policies, whether that's true or not..

TechnoBoy

Count_Dante wrote: »

It's because he is their national leader - the guy standing up to foreigners. It is just like in Britain. If you once thought Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling were idiots but you had money in Icesave when it collapsed, you now think of them as heroes and statesmen of genius.

I have money lost in Icesave and I still think those two are idiots ...

The only reason we're getting the money back is to stop runs on other banks, they had no choice but to guarantee it by one way or another.