Where Exactly Is "Money Heaven"?

When one of the billionaires behind the collapsed internet bank Icesave in relations to a new film was asked what happened to all the money, his answer was astonishingly nonchalant: “A lot of money goes to money-heaven,” shrugged Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, the Londonbased investor who co-owned 41% of Icesave’s parent bank, Landsbanki.

“They have evaporated. It’s a common misunderstanding to ask;  where did the money go.”

Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson

No wonder the people of Iceland are really pissed off. Sure, the money has “evaporated”, but Icesave’s €4 billion debts remain and are now the subject of fury in Mr. Björgólfsson’s home country.

Icelanders were set to become the world’s first rebels against the idea of clearing up after the mess made by a reckless private bank.

This popular insurrection has been watched anxiously by the governments in Greece, Ireland, eastern Europe – and even Britain – concerned that this defiance could become contagious.

Almost 18 months after its financial system, currency and government went into meltdown, the country is still spiralling downwards into what one economist has called a “vortex of debt default, unemployment, and an exodus of people”.

Public outrage has been brought to a peak by the fact that there are now 43 cases of alleged criminal activity under investigation in connection with the country’s scandal-hit financial institutions, including Landsbanki, and, in the country’s first referendum, the 320,000 people of the island were expected to vote against a deal to compensate the UK and the Netherlands for the failure of Icesave.

So,what really happened?

Here’s a little – but very interesting – piece of news broadcasted by Iceland Radio on October 15th 2008:

“Islands Radio reports that the Icelandic Finance Council was started to investigate a series of mysterious transactions prior to the collapse of Landsbanki.”

“17 percent of the bank’s shares changed hands on October 3. The price was 5 percent above market price. October 3, 2008 was the last day of trading with the shares of Landsbanki. The day after the authorities suspended trading, and four days later the bank was taken over by the Icelandic government. According to Icelandic radio, it is unclear who has bought or sold shares in Landsbanki.”

All the three major Icelandic banks, Landsbanki, Kaupthing and Glitnir, was later declared bankrupt.

We have never heard another word on what happened to the investigation of the mysterious transaction.

But it gets even better

“Landsbanki’s biggest owners, Mr. Björgólfur Thor Björgólfsson, and his father, the ex-owner of West Ham FC, Björgólfur Gudmundsson – two Icelandic businessmen with close links to the country’s ruling Independence Party benefited from Iceland’s move to privatize its banks in the early 1990s, despite the fact that Mr Gudmundsson had a conviction for false accounting, following the collapse of his shipping empire in 1985,” according to The Telegraph.

The pair had no experience in banking and were not the highest bidders. However, the privatization helped catapult Mr. Björgólfsson on to the Forbes list of richest people.

At the peak of his wealth he had an estimated fortune of $3.5bn – now an estimated $ 1 billion.

No one quite knows how Landsbanki and the other Icelandic banks managed to grow so big, so quickly. But it is now well-documented that some of the biggest shareholders of the banks were lending each other vast sums of money in a complex network of mutually beneficial business relationships.

This had begun to worry financial observers by March 2006.

Richard Thomas, an analyst at Merrill Lynch, said at the time: “We are seeing the classic signs of a over-leveraged banking system and this has flashed a red alarm signal.”

And there’s  more

In September last year The British Serious Fraud Office sent a team of investigators to Iceland to get to the bottom of the suspicion that there had been any criminal offense in connection with the collapse of the banks, and whether it had any connection to London.

As expected, very little have come out of this investigation, so far.

More than 30 houses on the Island have been ransacked by police and more than 60 people have been brought to interrogation.

The international corruption investigator, Eva Joly, who is brought in as a consultant for the Icelandic government, believe this might be the biggest criminal case Europe has ever seen.

Eva Joly told The Telegraph last year that the British authorities must take their share of responsibility because they have did not have a good enough supervision of the Icelandic banks.

“They received several warnings about banks, but they did nothing. In my opinion that has been very harmful,” she said.

Personally, I can’t wait for the next shoe to drop in this case, (and perhaps somebody finally will tell us where money-heaven is – that answer is long overdue.)

In the meantime; the hardworking people of Iceland needs our support.

Related by the Econotwist:

Iceland Refuse To Accept Debt

Iceland Voting Over Icesave Repayments

Iceland Debt Talks Collapse

På (litt) lenger sikt

BBC:

Iceland rejects plan to repay Icesave debts

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• Iceland Rejects Icesave Bill in Referendum, Early Results Show (businessweek.com)
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Iceland Refuse To Accept Debt

On Iceland the voting have just closed. A preliminary result in expected in a few minutes. Polls show they will reject to cover the losses triggered by the failure of private banks.

“Ordinary people, farmers and fishermen, taxpayers, doctors, nurses, teachers, are being asked to shoulder through their taxes a burden that was created by irresponsible greedy bankers.”

Olafur R. Grimsson

Icelanders are voting in a referendum on a bill that would saddle each citizen with $16,400 of debt. According to Bloomberg News, polls show they will reject the measure in protest at U.K. and Dutch demands that they cover losses triggered by the failure of a private bank.

Polling ends at 10 p.m.  (local time) and first results will be available shortly after, with a final count to be published early tomorrow.

The bill obliges the island to take on $5.3 billion, or 45 percent of last year’s economic output, in loans from the U.K. and the Netherlands to compensate the two countries for depositor losses stemming from the collapse of Landsbanki Islands hf more than a year ago.

A March 1th poll showed 74 percent of the electorate of 230,014 people will reject the bill.

Olafur R. Grimsson

“Ordinary people, farmers and fishermen, taxpayers, doctors, nurses, teachers, are being asked to shoulder through their taxes a burden that was created by irresponsible greedy bankers,” Iceland’s president Olafur R. Grimsson said in a Bloomberg Television interview Friday.

Failure to reach an agreement on the so-called Icesave bill has left Iceland’s International Monetary Fund-led loan in limbo and prompted Fitch Ratings to cut its credit grade to junk.

Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s have signaled they may follow suit if no settlement is reached.

Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, who in a March 4 interview called the referendum “pointless,” said she won’t cast a ballot today.

Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson has also said he sees no point in voting.

Political leaders have already moved on and are trying to negotiate a new deal with the U.K. and the Dutch, making the bill in today’s vote “obsolete,” Sigurdardottir said.

“This referendum is very peculiar and without any parallel in Iceland’s history,” said Gunnar Helgi Kristinsson, a professor of political science at the University of Iceland, in an interview.

The Icesave deal being voted on today passed through parliament with a 33 to 30 vote majority. Grimsson blocked it after receiving a petition from a quarter of the population urging him to do so.

The government has said it’s determined any new deal must have broader political backing to avoid meeting a similar fate.

Even so, signs of disunity across the political divide have emerged, prompting concerns that the government may be forging ahead without the backing of opposition parties.

“It’s extremely important that we try in full to complete the negotiations in harmony with the opposition,” Sigurdardottir said.

“If that’s not possible, we will have to try to resolve this by ourselves.”

BBC:

Iceland rejects plan to repay Icesave debts

Related by the Econotwist:

Iceland Refuse To Accept Debt

Iceland Debt Talks Collapse

På (litt) lenger sikt

Related articles by Zemanta

• Iceland braces for consequences of Icesave vote (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Icelanders Face ‘Pointless’ Vote on ‘Obsolete’ Law (Update2) (businessweek.com)

På (litt) lenger sikt

Image via Wikipedia

Corruption investigator Eva Joly                                           

  

  

 

 

Det er denne uken ett år siden storbanken Lehman Brothers ble slått konkurs og verdens finansmarkededer gikk i fritt fall. Mange har benyttet anledningen til å se tilbake og oppsummere situasjonen. Men få våger å se fremover.

 

 

 

14.september var det nøyatig ett år siden en av verdens største banker ble slått konkurs.

160 år gamle Lehman Brothers kollapset over natten og sendte sjokkbølger gjennom verdens finansmarkeder.

For mange var det dette som skulle til for at man så alvoret i finanskrisen.

Men ett år etter er det ”business as usual” i det globale bankvesenet.

Lehman – oppsummert

Antall banker er riktignok blitt mindre, men de som er igjen har fått risikoappetitten tilbake og er igjen i gang med å pakke lån som kan selges videre i mindre biter.

Det spekuleres igjen med de samme kompliserte derivatene som utløste krisen, i like stor grad uten at  problemet med verdsettingen av disse er avklart.

Bankene ser ikke ut til å ha lært noen ting av Lehman-konkursen, konkluderer eksperter og kommentatorer som denne uken har gjort opp status.

”The Blowback”

De fleste har vært opptatt av å se tilbake denne uken – få har tatt seg bryet med å se fremover.

Et unntak er finanseksperten J.S Kim som driver det uavhengige research- og konsulentselskapet SmartKnowledgeU.

I en kommentarartikkel på nettstedet Seeking Alpha skriver han om de kommende konsekvensene av det han kaller for ”finansiell svindel”, begått av den globale finanseliten, ellers kjent som sentralbankene.

Han hevder at vi snart vil se en ”blowback” som følge av sentralbankenes intervensjoner i finansmarkedet for å redde bankvesenet fra total nedsmeltning og verdensøkonomien fra en ny depresjon.

Begrepet ”blowback” ble først brukt av CIA i mars 1954 for å beskrive utilsiktede konsekvenser av å holde den amerikanske regjeringens operasjoner i utlandet hemmelig for USAs befolkning.

Internasjonale operasjoner

–          Selv om begrepet I hovedsak har vært brukt til beskrive konsekvensene av militære operasjoner, er “blowback” et passende begrep å bruke om de kommende konsekvensene av banksvindelen fordi den amerikanske regjeringen, den amerikanske sentralbanken, Wall Street, det amerikanske finansdepartementet og Exchange Stabilization Fund har deltatt i innelandske og internasjonale transaksjoner som er blitt holdt hemmelig for verden, og som vil få betydelige og negative konsekvenser i nær fremtid, skriver J.S Kim, og fortsetter:

–          Jeg tror at ”the blowback” fra disse aktivitetene ikke bare vil overgå, men langt overgå, det vi opplevde i 2008. Folk flest kan i dag ikke forestille seg hvor ille det kommer til å bli hovedsakelig på grunn av alt hemmeligholdet som bankfolkene har deltatt i – i det amerikanske statsobligasjonsmarkedet, i gullmarkedet, i dollarmarkedet, i markedet for jorbruksråvarer, aksjemarkedet og finansmarkedet – for å skjule realitetene, skriver han.

Hjulpet av finanspressen

–          Den uunngåelige konklusjonen handler ikke bare om manglende bæredyktighet i de massive bailoutprogrammene som de globale sentralbankene har implementert og som har skapt det nåværende markedsrallyet ut av tynn luft, men også at manifestasjonen av det bør utløse en etterforskning av den rene svindelen som er begått av Wall Street, finansinstitusjonene og sentralbankene,  hjulpet og oppmuntret av finansjournalister, fastslår J.S Kim.

Den anerkjente finanseksperten har truffet godt med sine analyser tidligere og det ser ut som han er i ferd med å få rett igjen.

Island under etterforskning

The Telegraph melder at britiske Serious Fraud Office nå sender et team av etterforskere til Island for å komme til bunns i mistanken om at det har foregått noe kriminelt i forbindelse med kollapsen i landets bankvesen, og om det har noen forbindelse til London.

15.oktober i fjor opplyste Islands Radio at det islandske Finansrådet var i gang med å undersøke en rekke mystiske transaksjoner i forkant av sammenbruddet i Landsbanki.

17 prosent av bankens aksjer skiftet eier den 3.oktober. Prisen lå 5 prosent over markedspris. 3.oktober 2008 var siste dag det ble handlet med aksjene til Landsbanki. Dagen etter suspenderte myndighetene handelen, og fire dager senere ble banken overtatt av den islandske staten. Ifølge Islands radio er det uklart hvem som har kjøpt eller solgt aksjene i Landsbanki.

Alle de tre islanske storbankene, Landsbanki, Kaupthing og Glitnir, ble senere slått konkurs.

De islandske bankene hadde mange store kunder i England og i oktober i fjor var pluselig 300 000 briter avskåret fra tilgangen til sine bankkonti. 

I løpet av det siste året har det britiske finansdepartementet måtte punge ut 7,5 milliarder pund for å kompensere for tapet av sparepengene til britiske kunder – Island har dog lovet å betale tilbake 2,3 milliarder over de neste 15 år.

Europas største kriminalsak

Korrupsjonsjeger Eva Joly, som er hentet inn som rådgiver for islandske myndigheter, mener dette vil bli den største kriminalsaken Europa noen gang har sett.

Hittil er mer enn 30 hus på Island blitt ransaket av politiet og mer enn 60 personer er innbrakt til forhør.

Eva Joly sier til The Telegraph at også britiske myndigheter må ta sin del av ansvaret fordi de ikke har hatt godt nok tilsyn med de islandske bankene.

–          De fikk flere advarsler om bankene, men de gjorde ingenting. Det har i mine øyne vært meget skadelig, sier hun.

Og Norge?

Her hjemme kan vi vel bare smøre oss med tålmodighet mens vi venter på at Kredittilsynet og Økokrim skal komme til bunns i sakene som er under etterforskning i DnB NOR.

Finanskrisen kan nok lakke mot slutte og resesjonen kan megen vel være over, men det er sikkert at eventyret bare er begynt.

Vi har bare skrevet første kapittel i historien om den største økonomiske krisen siden 1930-tallet.

Vi går en spennende tid i møte.

 

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