Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson, a major shareholder of Landsbanki, said this week that deposits with the collapsed savings brand Icesave could have been guaranteed by the UK if the Icelandic Central Bank had agreed to back a British transfer plan with a multi-million pound guarantee.

In the interview, which was broadcast on the Icelandic news programme Kompas on Monday night, Bjorgolfsson revealed that the day before Landsbanki was nationalised in Iceland, the UK Financial Supervisory Authority had offered to accept Icesave deposits under a British guarantee within 5 days, provided Landsbanki submitted GBP 200 million in collateral from the Icelandic Central Bank.

Continue Reading

The Central Bank of Iceland has announced that the key interest rate will increase by 6% to 18%. The bank recently lowered the rate by 3.5% from 15.5% to 12%. In a press release the bank said that the reasons for the decision would be made public at 11am today.

Continue Reading

With the dramatic rise in value of the US dollar against the Icelandic krona, American visitors to Iceland now have nearly twice the spending power compared to last year.

Continue Reading

Savings specialist Bradford & Bingley International, based in the Isle of Man, has launched two new fixed rate savings bonds.

For long term deposits, Fixed Rate Bond Issue 46 is a 1 year bond which pays 6.70% interest on maturity or 6.50% (6.70% AER) monthly.

Continue Reading

A natural product for weight loss has been developed in Siglufjordur off the north coast of Iceland. LipoSan Ultra is a unique dietary supplement made from crustaceans which live in the arctic waters of the North Atlantic.

The slimming aid uses chitosan, a natural dietary fibre found in the shells of North Atlantic Coldwater Shrimp (Pandalus Borealis). A by-product of the food industry, the chitosan is modified to improve its fat binding performance and solubility in the human digestive system.

Continue Reading

The operations of generic pharmaceutical company Actavis will not be affected by the financial crisis in Iceland, the company reports.

Actavis, which has its headquarters in Reykjavik, is a leading generic pharmaceuticals manufacturer with operations in 40 countries and 11,000 employees.

Continue Reading

Actavis, the generic drug manufacturer, has announced it has reduced the price of 40 pharmaceuticals on the Icelandic market from 1st October.

The move is a result of changes to Icelandic pharmaceutical laws which took effect from the beginning of this month. The reductions are similar to those that the company announced in May this year.

Continue Reading

Geothermal experts and businesses from around the world will be converging on Reno, Nevada between 5th and 8th October for the 2008 Geothermal Energy Conference & Expo.

The annual event is expected to draw record numbers of participants, with over 1,000 people attending the day event and more than 70 companies represented at the accompanying trade show. Continue Reading

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Iceland rose by 0.86% between August and September, representing a drop in annual inflation from 14.5% to 14.0%, Statistics Iceland revealed yesterday.

Analysts had expected an increase of 14.2% in September, after a record rise of 14.5% in August. The drop was the first decline in the annual inflation rate since January 2008.

Continue Reading

The President of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, has said that Alaska could be a world leader in geothermal power, reports ktuu.com

He also said that geothermal energy could clean up the air in Alaska as well as save oil and gas reserves for the future.

“Above all, you will also obtain cheaper energy for the citizens for their homes and for their businesses because the price of oil whatever happens and gas is going to go up,” said President Grimsson.

Continue Reading