Icesave

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

logo

Icesave was an Icelandic online bank with savings offers in the UK and the Netherlands . Due to the Icelandic financial crisis, it had to file for bankruptcy on October 7, 2008 and was placed under the bankruptcy administration of the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority. Icesave was part of the largest Icelandic bank Landsbanki .

Icesave about to collapse

Icesave worked in two countries, the UK (since October 2006) and the Netherlands (since May 2008).

In the UK, Icesave offered three types of savings: a normal current account , an Individual Savings Account (a tax-privileged British form of current account), and bonds . The interest rate on these accounts was over 6%. When the bank collapsed, it had over 300,000 customers in the UK with total balances of £ 4 billion (the equivalent of € 5 billion).

In the Netherlands, Icesave initially offered accounts at 5.0% interest , which were later increased to 5.25%. In the five months that Icesave was active in the Netherlands, the bank gained more than 125,000 customers who deposited a total of 1.7 billion euros.

Icesave belonged to the EU regulations according to the Icelandic deposit insurance fund Tryggingarsjóður ; the target of 20,000 euros security per deposit was a prerequisite for opening a bank in the EU. However, due to the restriction in Iceland , the deposit protection fund was far too small to cover all claims for 20,000 euros per foreign creditor. In the wake of the financial crisis, Great Britain and the Netherlands increased the additional state guarantee for any savings balance to 50,000 pounds (approx. 60,000 €) and 100,000 €, respectively, in order to prevent a bank run on their banks.

Collapse and consequences

On October 7, 2008, Landsbanki was placed under bankruptcy administration. An announcement by the Icelandic tax authorities stipulated that all domestic balances would be guaranteed. On October 9th, 2008, the Icelandic part of the bank was spun off into the Nýr (= new) Landsbanki and on October 27th, 2008 the insolvency of the "remaining Landsbanki" was declared.

Icesave customers from the Netherlands and Great Britain were affected by the insolvency of “Rest-Landsbanki” .

On October 10, 2008, the UK Treasury decided to freeze Landsbanki , the Central Bank of Iceland and the Government of Iceland that may be related to Landsbanki. This was justified with the British anti-terrorism laws. The UK government announced that it would prosecute Iceland.

The use of anti-terrorism laws in Iceland met with very strong emotional reactions from the people, the press and the government. The mood between the countries, which had been tense since the Cod Wars , reached a new low.

Attempts to resolve the dispute

In the course of the application to join the EU and to gain access to aid from the International Monetary Fund , the Icelandic government planned to compensate the foreign Icesave customers. Great Britain and the Netherlands based this demand on Iceland, as a member of the EEA , having undertaken to refrain from any “discrimination on the basis of the nationality or the place of residence of the parties or the place of investment” in order to ensure the free movement of capital.

On June 6, 2009, the Icelandic government, Great Britain and the Netherlands came to an agreement that provided for a repayment between 2017 and 2023 of 3.8 billion euros and an interest rate of 5.5%.

On September 2, 2009, Icelandic President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson signed a law that provided for the repayment of around 3.8 billion euros, but made some modifications to the previous agreement. However, this law was not accepted by the Netherlands and Great Britain. As a result, they blocked Iceland's access to IMF aid.

In December 2009, the Althing , the Icelandic parliament , approved a new “Icesave law” by a majority of 33-30, which met the demands of Great Britain and the Netherlands. The law implied a per capita burden per Icelander of just under 11,000 euros.

The population in particular thought little of the law and repeatedly demonstrated in front of the Icelandic parliament and the presidential seat, until Ólafur finally stepped before the nation at noon on January 5, 2010 and announced that he was vetoing the "Icesave law". UK Treasury Secretary of State Lord Myners said of the President’s decision that if the Icelandic people were to rule against the Icesave Act, it would imply that Iceland did not want to be part of the international financial system. The Dutch finance minister Wouter Bos said that the presidential decision was not acceptable and that "whatever the result of the referendum, Iceland still has to repay the money". The Althing passed a resolution on January 8, 2010 calling for a referendum by March 6 of that year at the latest. The resolution was passed 49-0 with 14 abstentions. The date of the referendum was later set for March 6, 2010.

According to the Icelandic media, the President's decision was partially misunderstood abroad, despite an official statement from the government, because it was not about repayment as such, but about a domestic law (especially its modalities), over which he vetoed in wanted to vote in a referendum . The President followed a referendum that around 20% of Icelanders had signed; the Icelandic government, on the other hand, was very disappointed.

Political consequences for Iceland

The people voted on the Icesave Act on March 6, 2010 , and it remained to be seen how the issue would be resolved. Norway had initially put promised state aid on hold, the IMF made the disbursement of promised aid dependent on Iceland's handling of the dispute. He has now been accused of making himself the bailiff of interstate claims, which is not his job. An initially feared negative impact on Iceland's possible EU accession through the right of veto of the Netherlands and Great Britain was officially denied by these countries.

Vote on March 6, 2010

The question put to the voters was:

"Lög no. 1/2010 kveða á um breytingu á lögum no. 96/2009, um heimild til handa fjármálaráðherra, fyrir hönd ríkissjóðs, til að ábyrgjast lán Tryggingarsjóðs innstæðueigenda og fjárfesta frá breska og hollenska ríkinu til aðstum straumland hiláðs grei hid. Alþingi samþykkti lög no. 1/2010 en forseti synjaði þeim staðfestingar. Eiga lög no. 1/2010 að halda gildi? "

“ Law No. 1/2010 contains an amendment to Law No. 96/2009. This authorizes the Treasury Secretary to give, at the expense of the Treasury, a state guarantee for the interpretations made by the governments of Great Britain and the Netherlands in favor of the Investment and Investment Guarantee Fund of Iceland and authorizes him to make payments to investors of Landsbanki Íslands hf. The Althing accepted the law; however, the President refused to sign it. Should Law 1/2010 come into force? "

In the vote on March 6, 2010, a majority of 93.2% of the voters spoke out against the law, only 1.8% voted for it. The turnout was 62.7%.

Reactions

After the referendum, the rating agency Fitch downgraded the rating of Icelandic government bonds from BBB− to BB + in the speculative area ("junk level"). This meant that Iceland would only get the loans it needed in international money markets on significantly less favorable terms than before.

Iceland's President said in an initial statement:

It is encouraging that the British and Dutch governments have admitted in recent weeks that the loan repayment terms that the people have now voted on were unfair and that in itself is a great success of the referendum [...]; this enables us to continue the negotiations.

- President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, interview with BBC 8 March 2010

The British Chancellor of the Exchequer noted

It's not a matter of whether the sum should be paid. There is no question we will get the money back but what I am prepared to do is to talk to Iceland about the terms and conditions of the repayment.

“It's not about whether the sum should be paid. There is no question that we will get the sum back; but I am preparing to negotiate with Iceland about the circumstances and terms of the repayment. "

- Alistair Darling, BBC interview, March 8, 2010

When asked how long it would take for Iceland to repay its debts in full, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said: “many, many years” (“many, many years”).

Second vote on April 9, 2011

After the referendum, new negotiations began. On February 16, 2011, the Icelandic parliament approved an agreement that provided for the repayment of 3.8 billion euros between 2016 and 2046 (instead of the previous 2023) at a fixed interest rate of 3% (instead of 5.5%). In addition, the annual repayment amount should not exceed 5% of government income. Parliament adopted the package by 70% across coalition lines. Even now the president refused to sign and instead called a new referendum.

In the referendum on April 9, 2011, voters again rejected the state's debt repayments for Icesave with 57% of the vote. Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir said of the result that it was "the worst possible outcome"; she spoke of a "shock" for the government and also for parliament. The English Minister Danny Alexander said that the courts now had to decide. Dutch Finance Minister Jan-Kees de Jager said the time for negotiations was up.

On January 28, 2013, the action was dismissed by the Court of Justice of the European Free Trade Association EFTA in Luxembourg.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Landsbanki h. f .: Annual Report 2007 (PDF; 7.5 MB) January 28, 2008, accessed on November 27, 2008 .
  2. ↑ Savings Accounts. In: Icesave. Archived from the original on February 2, 2008 ; Retrieved October 8, 2008 .
  3. ↑ Britain vows to protect savers , Agence France-Presse. October 8, 2008. Archived from the original on October 10, 2008. 
  4. ↑ Rotteveel, Mathijs: Icesave wint de renteoorlog. In: depers.nl. May 29, 2008, archived from the original on December 8, 2008 ; Retrieved November 25, 2008 .
  5. ↑ Jeroen de Boer: Spaarstunter Icesave slaat terug. In: z24.nl. July 7, 2008, accessed November 25, 2008 (Dutch).
  6. ↑ Tasneem Brogger, Helga Kristin Einarsdottir: Iceland Reaches Accord With Deposit UK, Netherlands. In: Bloomberg. October 11, 2008, accessed October 11, 2008 .
  7. ↑ Directive 94/19 / EC (PDF) .
  8. ↑ ISK8.3bn at the end of 2007 ( Financial statements 2007 ( Memento of March 30, 2014); PDF; 29 kB) plus ISK2.5bn raised in 2008 to keep within the statutory minimum ( Press release ( Memento of July 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive )).
  9. ^ Alan O'Sullivan: Icesave hits out at compensation scheme. In: thisismoney.co.uk. April 10, 2008, accessed April 11, 2011 .
  10. ↑ Teather, David: Iceland government seizes control of Landsbanki , The Guardian . October 7, 2008. 
  11. ↑ Landsbanki: Landsbanki's Operations Continued Under Unchanged Management . October 7, 2008. Archived from the original on April 7, 2009. Retrieved on April 10, 2011.
  12. ^ Financial Supervisory Authority (FME): Based on New Legislation, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (IFSA) Proceeds to take Control of Landsbanki to ensure Continued Commercial Bank Operations in Iceland . October 7, 2008. Archived from the original on October 10, 2008. Retrieved on October 12, 2008.
  13. ↑ Financial Supervisory Authority (FME): New Landsbanki Takes Over Domestic Operations of Landsbanki Islands hf. . October 9, 2008. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved on April 10, 2011.
  14. ↑ Financial Supervisory Authority (FME): Landsbanki Íslands' hf. ability to render payment of deposits . October 9, 2008. Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved on April 10, 2011.
  15. ↑ The Landsbanki Freezing Order 2008 No. 2668.
  16. ^ Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 c. 24.
  17. ^ HM Treasury: Financial sanctions> Current regimes> Landsbanki . Archived from the original on October 21, 2008. Retrieved October 18, 2008.
  18. ↑ UK govt launching legal action against Iceland , Citywire. October 8, 2008. Archived from the original on August 3, 2012. Retrieved on April 1, 2011. 
  19. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from January 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  20. ↑ Article 40 of the Agreement on the European Economic Area ( online )
  21. ↑ Iceland Strikes Loan Accord With UK, Netherlands (Update2) . Bloomberg. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  22. ↑ http://www.visir.is/article/20090902/FRETTIR01/246185484
  23. ^ British and Dutch stance on Icesave hardening . Icenews. September 28, 2009. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  24. ↑ PM: Iceland cannot wait much longer for IMF payout . Icenews. September 29, 2009. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  25. ↑ "Iceland approves UK payout after Icesave collapse claim - Iceland gives green light to € 3.8bn payout after UK and Dutch governments compensated savers"
  26. ^ Süddeutsche Zeitung ( Memento from January 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  27. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of February 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  28. ↑ Iceland leader vetoes banking bill repayments
  29. ↑ Bos uitblijven oplossing Icesave onaanvaardbaar (in Dutch) ( Memento from January 8, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  30. ↑ Referendum due on Icesave pay-out. , BBC News, Jan. 8, 2010
  31. ^ Icesave: Misunderstanding in the foreign media . IceNews from January 6, 2010
  32. ^ Government: Iceland still committed to debt repayment . IceNews from January 5, 2010
  33. ↑ Skarphedinsson and Moratinos: Icesave has no impact on EU's treatment of application . IceNews from January 9, 2010
  34. ↑ Website of the Icelandic Ministry of Justice (Icelandic / English / Danish)
  35. ↑ Compensation for Icesave losses 93 percent of Icelanders say no to debt repayment. tagesschau.de from March 7, 2010
  36. ↑ Referendum: Icelanders reject compensation for Icesave losses . Der Spiegel from March 7, 2010
  37. ↑ Lagere waardering IJsland. nu.nl, January 5, 2010 (Dutch)
  38. ↑ a b c Iceland rejects plan to repay Icesave debts , BBC, March 7, 2010
  39. ↑ Icesave Agreement divides Iceland . FAZ . April 8, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  40. ↑ zeit.de April 10, 2011
  41. ↑ Icelanders reject Icesave debt repayment . Financial Times . April 10, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
  42. ↑ taz January 29, 2013: Reykjavik's stubbornness pays off