Two former senior Landsbanki executives have been arrested over allegations of market manipulation after a total of seven former Landsbanki employees were called in for questioning last Thursday. Read the full story

Seven Giltnir Bank investors and officials, including Jon Asgeir Johannesson, are being sued for conspiring to snatch control of USD 2 billion to benefit their own “failing companies,” Reuters reports.

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The former President of Kaupthing Bank, Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson has been arrested in Reykjavik, accused of criminal malpractice. Read the full story

Further to the announcement of 20 July 2009 and following shareholder meetings of Islandsbanki and New Kaupthing today, the Government of Iceland is pleased to announce that it has committed to capitalise Islandsbanki and New Kaupthing on the basis of compensation agreements which are in the process of being finalised with the Resolution Committees of Glitnir and Kaupthing. Read the full story

The scale of the loans made by Kaupthing Bank to large customers was neatly bound together into a stylish top-secret presentation shortly before the bank collapsed last autumn and then kept under lock and key until it recently appeared on a website called WikiLeaks. Read the full story

New Kaupthing Bank has not purchased any fishing permits for this summer, and neither did ‘old’ Kaupthing and furthermore, the bank does not plan to buy any fishing permits this year. That was the response given by the bank to questions sent from the Seydisfjordur Fishing Club. Read the full story

Net after-tax profit ISK 9.3 billion. Return on equity (ROE) 41.6%.

Gudmundur Hauksson CEO: “The operating results for the first nine months of the year are good and SPRON’s operating income has never been higher, exceeding our expectations. SPRON’s core income is strengthening but at the same time our stock investments have suffered due to turbulence in financial markets. The Group’s profits totalled ISK 9.3 billion in the first nine months and ROE was 41.6% which is well above our goal for the year. Prospects for the year are good with the continued strengthening of the Group’s core operations.”

Highlights from the first nine months of 2007:

• SPRON reported an after-tax profit of ISK 9,279 million in the first nine months of the year
• Return on equity after-tax was 41.6% on an annualised basis
• Net interest income amounted to ISK 15,297 million in the period and has never been higher
• Net interest margin was 1.2%
• Total assets amounted to ISK 219,188 million at the end of September 2007 and increased by 18.8% from year end 2006
• Loans to customers amounted to ISK 148,583 million at the end of September and increased by 15.8% from year end 2006
• Customer deposits amounted to ISK 74,625 million and increased by 31.9% from year end 2006

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Kaupthing Bank’s Results for the First Nine Months of 2007 is out and reports net earnings of ISK 60.2 billion (EUR 683 million).

Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson, CEO: “Kaupthings activities have been characterised by robust growth and we continued to strengthen our position in the third quarter. Trends in interest income and fee and commission income are most encouraging; interest income was up 60%, while fee and commission income grew by 75% in the third quarter compared with the same period last year. The international financial markets experienced considerable unrest during the quarter, but it is good to see that our strategy of risk diversification enabled us to achieve 19% return on equity during the quarter. The Bank is performing well and results were particularly strong in corporate banking and investment banking. I believe that 2007 will prove to be another excellent year for Kaupthing Bank.”

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A lot of the impetus behind the current US drive for geothermal alternatives to fossil fuels comes from across the Atlantic, in Iceland.

Iceland America Energy is one of the many companies currently exploring the geothermal possibilities in the United States. CEO Magnus Johannesson sees huge potential for both geothermal energy production in the US and for its uses.

Johannesson suggests that geothermal energy could be used to power air conditioning systems in Las Vegas and snow removal systems in the Rocky Mountains.

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The Banker magazine named Glitnir as Icelandic ‘Bank of the Year’ at its annual awards ceremony last week in London.

Nordic bank Glitnir won the award during a presentation at the Dorchester hotel in London on Wednesday.

Judges for The Banker magazine said they were impressed by Glitnir’s “targeted acquisitions and outstanding 80% profit increase.” The Banker magazine is world’s oldest international banking magazine and a member of the Financial Times group.

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