Newsgroup: it.economia
Titolo: Financial Times: Più di 300mila britannici ed i  risparmiatori olandesi hanno perso i soldi nel funzionamento  high-interest di clienti “di Icesave„

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b3c9d512-8832-11de-82e4-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1
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Iceland seeks help from UK fraud office
By Andrew Ward in Stockholm
Published: August 13 2009 20:15 | Last updated: August 13 2009 20:15
Britain�s Serious Fraud Office is to meet with Icelandic investigators
in London next month as Reykjavik seeks international help to discover
whether criminal wrongdoing played a role in bringing down Iceland�s
banking sector.
Richard Alderman, director of the SFO, will hold talks with Eva Joly,
the French anti-corruption expert recruited to assist the Icelandic
investigation, in the wake of fresh revelations about questionable
lending practices at Icelandic banks.
The talks signal increasing co-operation between the UK and Iceland over
the corruption probe, even as tensions flare between the two countries
over a disputed deal to repay billions of pounds lost by British savers
in Icelandic banks.
J�hanna Sigurdard�ttir, Iceland�s prime minister, has appealed for
�fairness and understanding� from the UK and the rest of the
international community as her country tries to repay foreign debts
while rebuilding its shattered economy.
Her comments, in an article in the Financial Times on Friday, come as
Iceland�s fragile coalition government struggles to win parliamentary
approval for a deal to reimburse the British and Dutch governments for
�3.9bn ($5.6bn, �3.4bn) paid out in compensation to citizens who held
deposits in Icelandic accounts.
She said Icelanders were willing to make sacrifices to fulfil their
obligations but warned of the �very real and lasting impact� on Iceland
if the Netherlands and the UK tried to enforce a deal that proved too
costly for the country to bear.
Icelandic lawmakers want to attach a series of conditions to the
agreement, struck between the three governments in June, after a fierce
public backlash. Critics say the terms are stacked against Iceland and
would lumber the country with unaffordable debts.
Neither the UK nor the Netherlands have shown any openness to
renegotiating but Ms Sigurdard�ttir stressed that all three countries
had a �mutual interest� in �Iceland�s capacity to fulfil its debt
obligation�.
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More than 300,000 British and Dutch savers lost money in high-interest
�Icesave� accounts run by Reykjavik-based Landsbanki, which collapsed
along with two other lenders last October. The UK and Dutch governments
covered much of the losses through their respective national bank
insurance schemes and now want Iceland to reimburse them.
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The SFO has been gathering intelligence on the meltdown for months and
its interest has intensified since recent revelations about unusual
lending patterns at Kaupthing Bank, another of the failed lenders.
�We are hoping that the Icelandic side of the investigation can deliver
information to the SFO and that they can share information with us,�
said a spokesman for Ms Joly
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Per tradurre:
http://it.babelfish.yahoo.com/
scrive il primo ministro dell'Islanda:
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Icelanders are angry but will make sacrifices
By J�hanna Sigur�ard�ttir
Published: August 13 2009 18:53 | Last updated: August 13 2009 18:53
Few governments of developed market economies are grappling with as many
simultaneous challenges as Iceland.
In its efforts to conclude negotiations over compensation for foreign
savers in failed banks, Iceland has been accused of a tendency to
imagine a British or Dutch conspiracy behind any bad news.
Iceland has no such tendency. It is battling the effects of severe
banking and currency crises and a recession that is affecting our part
of the world as much as any other. My government, which took over in
February and gained a majority in general elections in May, has to deal
with the aftermath of the fall of nearly all of Iceland�s privatised
banking sector.
We plan a 30 per cent contraction in government finances over the next
three years, with extensive cuts to infrastructure spending and wages �
a heavy burden for our population of 300,000. We have, in co-operation
with the International Monetary Fund, formulated an economic strategy
that is being fully adhered to. Indeed, we have already reached
agreements on a recapitalisation of the banking sector, a stability pact
with social partners and a strategy for lifting current account
restrictions. In that vein, the authorities have sought an agreement
with the foreign creditors of the failed banks with the aim of them
taking control of two of the reborn banks. We have also finalised loan
agreements with several countries as part of the IMF programme and
Iceland�s parliament has authorised it to seek membership of the
European Union.
Icelanders, who do not feel responsible for the global banking crisis,
are willing to make sacrifices to secure normal relations and trade with
the world. But they are angry at having to take on the burden of
compensation for the Icesave savings accounts of Landsbanki � a failed,
privately owned, commercial bank, which attracted hundreds of thousands
of UK and Dutch savers with high interest rates. The amount to be
shouldered by Iceland is huge � about 50 per cent of our gross domestic
product. Assets against this debt will substantially lower the net
amount, but there is much uncertainty about the valuations and forecasts
underpinning such calculations.
Last October, when Iceland was in deep crisis, UK authorities froze the
assets of Landsbanki, and placed the bank (and for a while Iceland�s
government) alongside terrorist organisations on the official UK
Treasury list of entities subject to asset freezing. Kaupthing Bank,
which had just been granted a government loan amounting to 5 per cent of
GDP, then collapsed after its subsidiary in London was seized by the
Financial Services Authority. Despite a critical report in April by the
House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, no satisfactory explanations
have been given for the UK�s actions.
The EU deposit insurance directive that places this burden upon us is
seen by some as aimed at the failure of individual banks rather than a
systemic collapse, as was the case in Iceland. A strong argument has
been made for Iceland being the coincidental victim of defects in this
directive, which have been ignored.
Icelanders are striving to fulfil their obligations but cannot, and
should not, ignore the lessons to be learnt from this crisis regarding
potential flaws in banking regulation and deposit insurance schemes
affecting the EU and European Economic Area.
The FT has reported how the Dutch opposed the IMF lending to Iceland in
order to enforce their demands on Icesave, claiming the UK and Germany
as allies. The perception is that Treasury officials in the UK and the
Netherlands used their bargaining power against a much weaker party when
the Icesave deal, now being debated in the Icelandic parliament, was
struck.
This has made it difficult for Iceland�s government to convince the
parliament and Icelanders that an agreement on Icesave accounts with the
UK and the Netherlands is un-avoidable. Parliament is looking into ways
to attach conditions to the state guarantee to ensure the economic
survival and sovereignty of Iceland. Here we need to stress the mutual
interest of all three nations in Iceland�s capacity to fulfil its debt
obligation.
Iceland will not be deterred from resolving issues that stand in the way
of economic reconstruction at home and confidence-building abroad. It is
to be hoped that the people of large countries such as the UK and the
Netherlands are aware of the lasting impact their governments can have
on small countries such as ours at a time of great distress.
The writer is prime minister of Iceland
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Su aljazeera:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/08/2009828133027288332.html
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News Europe
Bank collapse to cost Iceland $5bn (ndr: i bn sono i milardi di $, ossia
di dollari)
Iceland's parliament has approved a $5bn repayment plan to compensate
Britain and the Netherlands for money lost after the collapse of an
Icelandic internet bank last year.
The government has said it will repay $3.8bn to the UK government and
$1.9bn to the Dutch government after they had to step in to reimburse
depositors in Icesave, whose parent bank Landsbankinn filed for
bankruptcy.
Under the plan, Iceland will reimburse the money, plus interest,
starting in 2016, with payments spread over 15 years.
Johanna Sigurdardottir, the country's prime minister, said that her
government "was hopeful that the Icesave issue would now be concluded in
a mutually satisfactory manner".
Strong opposition
Thirty four poltiicians voted in favour of a bill to award the
compensation in the 63-seat parliament, with 15 against and 14
abstentions.
Britain's finance ministry gave a cautious response, saying it supported
Iceland's commitment to repay its debt but would carefully review
conditions placed on the loan.
There had been strong opposition to the "Icesave bill" with critics
arguing that it would put undue pressure on the tiny North Atlantic
nation to force it into making repayments it could not afford.
There was also anger that the British government invoked anti-terrorism
legislation to freeze Icesave's accounts in the UK.
The government had agreed a deal with Britain and the Netherlands in
early June but many Icelanders were unhappy with the conditions. 
After weeks of political jockeying, amendments were added to the bill
setting a ceiling on the repayment based on the country's gross domestic
product (GDP).
Banks' mistakes
Anger over the issue is unlikely to end with the bill's passage and
those arguing that Iceland should stay outside of the European Union are
expected to use the deal to stoke anti-Brussels sentiment.
Icelanders, already reeling from a crisis that has left many destitute,
are furious over the idea of paying for mistakes made by private banks
under the watch of other governments.
The Icelandic government had argued it had little choice but to make
good on the debts if it wanted to ensure financial aid continued to
flow.
About 400,000 savers placed money in the high-interest online Icesave
account.
The British and Dutch governments eventually covered money lost in the
accounts but had demanded repayment from Iceland.
Up to four per cent of Iceland's GDP could be paid to Britain in
sterling terms from 2017 to 2023, and up to two per cent in euro terms
to the Netherlands, according to a draft document of the bill.
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Per tradurre:
http://it.babelfish.yahoo.com/
Saluti felicit�,
L
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 shouldered by Iceland is huge - about 50 per cent of our gross domestic
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