Reader views (27)

 Add your view

Here are two entries about this issue that might explain how things are, and the issue explained properly.
Then make up you mind.
The first link is called "The Icesave Fraud Case"
The second one is a follow up regarding EU regulations and Icesave.

http://icelandtalks.heidi.1984.is/?p=312
http://icelandtalks.heidi.1984.is/?p=322

- Shevron, Iceland

Check your history Magnus. British forces occupied Icealnd in 1940 to pre-empt any possible German invasion (Operation Fork) . The only reason we got any fish out of you then was because we - (and later on the USA) were occupying your country. Most Icelanders were (understandably) resentlful of the occupation. Don't try and claim you saved us in ww2.

My main point still is that if you owe money - you pay it back.

We will be paying out to our own stupid bankers for the next generation. If we owe money overseas we should pay it (as I belive we still are).

All anyone wants over here is our money back - we are'nt all fat cat millionaires, our councils acted in good faith to get a better deal for their local folks.

If they're asking you to pay a stupidly high interest rate - you've got every reason to negotiate that down (I'm actually with you on that one).

The reaction to the "cod war" needle shows I struck a raw nerve. Good - stop acting like we're asking for the unreasonable all the while - remember there is another side to this dispute. People over here are suffering over here as well - often worse than you are.......

- Simon, birmingham

Why was Icesave in the first place? It was because of mutual GREED. Banker´s GREED and account owners GREED. Many of the account owners were UK councils with GREEDY members willing to take risk, risking public money. Icesave is a sad story of GREED!

- Elías, Reykjavik, Iceland

LOL

Demanding that the people of Iceland pay for this is a joke. Look at the simple comparison - Iceland pop. 320,000 / Cardiff pop. 321,000

What do you think would happen in the UK if every single man, woman and child in Cardiff woke up one morning to find that a foreign government had decided that they should pay £10,000 each for a failed company that had nothing to do with the people of Cardiff?

Let's get things into perspective here...

- Calum, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

Ultimately, Icesave was a British bank owned by a foreign holding company which in this case was Icelandic. It was subject to British laws and regulations just like any other British bank. British owned institutions with subsidiaries in the United States benefitted from the US treasury bail out because those are still considered "American" entities subject to US laws and regulations. The fact that the British government forced the Icelandic government into this deal is scandalous! What is even more scandalous is that the Icelanders swallowed the whole thing. They are under no obligation to re-pay the debt of a British Bank. Icesave was not under the jurisdiction of the Icelandic banking authority, but the British one!!!

- Kristinn, New York US

This £3,2 billion that is a £10.000 to every Icelandic person but it is just over £51 to every Brit have you ever tough is this way,
The worker salary over here is some were around £5 and it would take him about 10 hours to pay it back those £51 if he had a work now.
Instead he need to for 50 weeks for 8 hours working day to pay what both Icelandic´s and Britain´s financial regulators and governments screwed up not the common people in both countries.
It is strange to see all this nagging about the cod war and so on who did what to whom and so on, Iceland did feed the Brits in the world war 2 and supported UK in time of there need then, So I ask were are UK in our time of need now?
Is this the brother hood of European Nations and how EU and Britain people think of there neighbour Nations in need, It seams to me there is a pattern building up, In the Cod war the Nato stood by when nation like Britain sent the Navy to bully a small nation of around 200.000 people then and now UK is bulling a nation of 300.000 now in the shade of EU and IMF.
I ask do the British nation gain any thing from this other than there pride.
It is fair to come to any reasonable deal that we could pay back and in a far deal not like the deal that was don in similar way to Germany after the world war I

- Magnus, Reykjavik

Why should icelanders pay for money wich never came too iceland and was never used by icelandic people. It´s still in uk and used by uk people.

- Gunni, Reykjavik

A couple of comments above point out that Iceland's debt is equivalent to GBP 616bn. But, hello ! Wake up ! This is pretty much the amount of the UK's stimulus package - i.e the amount of public wealth that has been transfered to the banking system.

In Britain we are all so sleepy, lazy and stuffed full of mindless sitcom media babble that we don't even realise what is happening.

- Mike, London, UK

Kate talks about that the Icelanders have to pay. But is really so, are we obligated to pay. We could reject the Icesave agreement. And EU, we are not so interested.

- Siggi, Reykjavik, Iceland

I feel kind of retarded for posting again..

..but thank you Kate. This is probably the only reason us Icelandic peasants are throwing a hissyfit over this.

We'll pay our dues. People who don't pay their dues are considered social waste here just like everywhere else. "Diligence" is the national flattery although I'm starting to think that modern comfort is slowly driving that part of our national identity into exile.

But a lot of us belief that the current agreement is not our dues and is an obvious attempt to shackle us into economic slavery. What you said earlier is just that, forcing us to join the EU by forcing us to accept the deal. Either we join the EU or we cannot pay.

And I am dumbstruck as to why the EU would condone/make such a move against a friendly nation. Probably because I'm the victim of pro-EU brainwashing.

But from the bottom of my heart, thanks for noticing that.

- Askur, Same as below

Why argue over money. 5% is not exorbitant. It's hardly as onerous as the Versailled treaty. Iceland went in the wrong direction, like Ireland, like UK, like many of us. And we're all paying the bill.
Best to pay and not argue and get in the EU but if I were the govt I'd make sure they paid back all the money before gaining admittance - 15 yrs is too long - they'll renege

- Cris, Massachusetts, USA

I feel sorry for Icelanders, really I do. What has happened is that private companies (banks) have behaved in a reckless manner in their own interests, and when it all went wrong they managed to unload their debts onto the entire population of Iceland, who now have to pay it off.

This is exactly what has happened in Britain, and now the taxpayers have to pay off the debts of our banks. This is what the expression "Private profit, public debt" actually means.

Also, I don't know how Iceland can be charged 5% interest on their debts when our own interest rate is only 0.5%. Seems like a scandal to me.

- Kate, London

I do believe the UK public needs to appreciate the amount of money involved in this man made disaster.

If you divide 3,2 billion pounds by 320.000 (the population of Iceland) you get 10.000 pound per person.

If you multiply 10.000 pounds with 61.612.300(the population of Great Britain) you get a sum of 616.123.000.000 - Six hundred and sixteen billion pounds plus change.

I am confident that if a UK government signed a loan deal, under duress, for such a sum of money with an attached interest rate of 5,6% they would be skinned alive and thrown in the river Thames.

Please remember that Iceland, unlike the UK / US / EU, can not print this money, every penny has to be earned with EXPORTS. The interest payments alone are higher than the yearly cost of our NHS system, national dept will go fro zero to 250 - 300% of GDP.

The situation we find our selves in is the result of a massive failure of EU bank regulations, the failure of governmental institutions in both our countries, global lack of political will to tackle a banking system totally out of control, individual greed and risks taken by individual investors.

The burden of this failiure must be shared by the EU banking system and the Central banks involved.

- Taxpayer, visiting London

The Icesave claim of 2.3 billion pounds on the Icelandic taxpayer would, translated to the UK, mean a claim on the UK taxpayers of 700 billion pounds!

Would anyone in the UK agree to paying that amount - a debt run up by a privately owned company?

- Erasmus, London, England

Simon is a typical Brit bleater (but not a typical Brit thank goodness). What has the fisheries dispute (Cod Wars)got to do with the international financial crisis? Wrong logic with that link mister. Speculators in Iceland created a system where they seemed to be doing well, and so they teamed up with a BRITISH bank to create Icesave. Then lots of greedy people in the UK believed the package being offered. Brits and Icelanders were fooled by the same bunch of lying bankers (rhyming slang). Stop whingeing and climb back onto the real world, Simon. We all have to pay for others greed. UK and Icelandic governments let it all happen through poor regulation. They BOTH should be hed responsible.

- Mik, Pruna, Spain

Simon - we owe you nothing for the Cod Wars.

You were fishing in our back yard and we threw you out.
Simple as that.

- Thordur, Reykjavik

When the Landsbanki was offering this IceSave (some Icelanders call it IceSlave) most Icelanders didn't know that it was on our "guarantee". How could we know. We did got the same lie about "everything was under control". After the Banks did fall there have been lot of things said about U.K. have push very much on the Iceland government to pay this (people say that U.K. have threaten to use their's force so we wont get any help from IMF (or any other) and stop us to go in the EU. I don't know if this is true but lot of people saying this. I think most people in Iceland want to pay theirs bill but they are angry how this IceSave was made possible without anyone (in Iceland or U.K.) was able to stop this. Icelanders are angry too because of how U.K. did fell the ever biggest company in Iceland Kaupthing bank (Singer and Friedland), the only bank that was not falling (at that time). Some people say the interest of this loan to Iceland is to high too (more than 5%). It will make the hopeless situation in Iceland even worse.

Kjarri.

- Kjarri, Icelander (not living in Iceland now)

It's quite simple Iceland - your country owes us a LOT of money.

Many of us have been hit hard as a result of your banks poor practices, greed and the deciet / evasion of your government.

If you're unhappy with the repayments then I suggest you take it out on your bankers and government for putting you in this situation in the first place. We are doing so over here.

If you refuse to pay I hope our government moves heaven and Earth to punish you for bad faith.

You've stitched us up before - at sea. Thousands of us lost jobs because of the cod wars. We owe you nothing.

Stop bleating, pay up and quit using the rather pathetic argument "we're so small and being bullied by the evil Brits...".

- Simon, Birmingham

Kate, we're not joining the EU. I say this as an ardent supporter of Icelands EU membership. I was raised out in Bruxelles, educated partially in the European Schools. I'm as thoroughly brainwashed to a pro-EU stance as an Icelandic person can get.

And I would still love to be able to say that our destiny lies with Europe. But you wouldn't want to be friends with anyone who demanded you to give over all your material belongings because they were his. Full stop. Discussion over. No matter that it's a horrendously gray legal area with no precedence. It's his. Fork it over. Or he'll break your legs.

That's not diplomacy. That's coercion. If it was anything other than coercion this issue would have been taken to a court. As the Netherlands and the UKs are both parts of the EU one can only assume that the EU is either clueless about this fiasco or it condones these actions. Either way my tiny country would not be better off in the bosom of someone that condones playing with the lives of innocent civilians for their personal gain or, alternatively, is simply to blind/stupid/apathetic/etc. to care about the conduct of their member countries.

Also, if the tables were the other way around.. I'm pretty sure my government would now be running a case against yours, in British courts.

- Askur, Reykjavik, Iceland

Why should we the general public in Iceland take responsibility for privately own company's like Landsbanki. Why should my family of 5 pay ₤50.000. And what money will Iceland get back.

- Siggi, Reykjavik, Iceland

This whole thing has got out of hand. It is my humble opinion that since the Icelandic government stated that they would pay if the guarantee fund would run short on money it should. What really kills me is that the Dutch and UK governments have offered interest rates that are outrageous and not in good faith at all. Further more they have forced Iceland to forgo its rights to litigate should it be proven that the bank failure (of Kaupthing) was in someway caused by them. Now, that really hurts and one should question indeed the need to indemnify these so called allies of Iceland.

What is less known is that when the anti-terror act was used against Iceland, the country’s gold reserve was frozen. That is an act of WAR...

As someone said, "Icelanders do not need enemies when they have friends such as UK, Holland and EU". But Iceland will have to part with the money, but I see no need for it to part with neither its dignity nor legal rights.

- Einar, London and Reykjavík

How outrageous, the majority of icelandic people don't want to join the EU anyway. Does the UK and the Netherlands intend to blackmail us into joining anyway? That would be a new twist on neo-colonialism indeed. It is not the icelandic people or the government that are responsible for this mess. IceSave was shut down because the private-owned bank Landsbanki suffered a bank run by european depositors, and was subsequently declared as a terrorist organization by UK authorities. If anyone should be held responsible it is the bank's owners and not the icelandic people or government. The UK government should wise up and go after the real criminals instead of trying to force unbearable debts upon the icelandic public which had nothing to do with these events!

As directive 94/19/EC clearly states: "Whereas this Directive may not result in the Member States' or their competent authorities' being made liable in respect of depositors if they have ensured that one or more schemes guaranteeing deposits or credit institutions themselves and ensuring the compensation or protection of depositors under the conditions prescribed in this Directive have been introduced and officially recognized;"

- Guðmundur Ásgeirsson, Reykjavík

Yes we most of us the pepole of Iceland whant to Pay but we need a contract that we can value and pay this is not the doing of the pepole of Iceland but most of feal your loss there where fewe Con pepole who live in London dont dare to back here. they should pay. They got your money. We the publick here don´t have nothing we are ower taxed at the moment by the left Wing here. but we do whant to pay what we should pay. we the publick ask but only this be fear. we beg of you .otherwise we shal not pay!
God bless and god save the queen an UK. and my deepest simpathy to those who have lost loved ones in Afganistan

- Kristján Jóhann Matthíasson, Hafnafjörður / Iceland

The possibility that Icland will join the European Union, even if the parliament decides to apply for membership, is very small to say the least. Even the current government is totally split on the issue.

- Hjörtur J. Guðmundsson, Iceland

I'm not sure that will be the case. It seem's like the money is getting short within the EU too. Even the Founder Countries are having problems keeping all their commitments in order.

- Kata, Reykjavik

I'm glad Kate finds this amusing. For us, it's a question of staying alive as a nation.
If the carelessness and stupidity of a handfull of bankers means that the whole nation will have to go bankrupt, people lose their jobs, their homes, their food ... then it better be because we are legally obliged, not just because we're being bullied to do so by the UK government.

- Iclenader, Reykjavik, Iceland

Iceland should stick to their agreement because they will get all this money back anyway. The procedure is this: Iceland sticks with the payback agreement, then the UK lets Iceland into the EU, then the idiotic financial arrangements within the EU will make the UK pay enormous sums to Iceland for some reason or other in perpetuity. Thus Iceland gets all the money back, and more. Simple, isn't it?

- Kate, London

Add your comment

Morgan Stanley casts cloud over Thomas Cook and Tui

Fresh weakness in the dollar gave a further boost to commodity prices which, in turn, brought in the buyers for mining shares

More

To be Frank, he’s a heroin of our time

“It's been a while since Frank Timis graced City Spy so a big shout out to the former boss of Regal Petroleum who told the market he'd found a whole load of oil in Greece only for it to turn out he hadn't

More