Short trading by the banks against the Icelandic krona amounted to around ISK 1,000 billion (USD 7.93 billion at today’s rate) right before the banking collapse in 2008, according to economist Bjarni Kristjansson. Read the full story

One of the biggest operations of the Icelandic special prosecutor into the banking collapse took place this week in Luxembourg. Read the full story

Sigurdur Einarsson, the former chairman of the board at Old Kaupthing has put in a claim for lost wages to the bank’s resolution committee amounting to ISK 244 million (USD 1.9 million). No claim has been received from former bank president Hreidar Mar Sugurdsson, however. Read the full story

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office will formally begin its investigation into the operations of the failed Icelandic banks Glitnir, Kaupthing and Landsbanki in the United Kingdom. Read the full story

(PRESS RELEASE from the Kaupthing resolution committee:)

The Resolution Committee of Kaupthing Bank contributes up to ISK 66 billion in common equity Read the full story

Foreign creditors of Old Kaupthing Bank will take the lion’s share of Arion Bank (formerly New Kaupthing). RUV reports this will be officially announced by the bank some time today. Read the full story

The deadline expires today for Old Kaupthing Bank to decide whether it wants to take an 87 percent stake in Arion Bank (formerly New Kaupthing). If it decides to take Arion on, the Icelandic government would only be left as the majority shareholder in New Landsbanki. Read the full story

The alleged embezzlement of tens or hundreds of millions of Icelandic kronur by a staff member at Old Kaupthing Bank is under police investigation. The woman accused of misappropriating the funds was sacked when the issue first came to light. Read the full story

Press release from Arion Banki: From yesterday, 21 November 2009, New Kaupthing Bank changed its name to Arion banki. The new name signals a new direction and new values. Following the restructuring of the bank in the recent economic turmoil at home and abroad, the bank is shifting its focus in response to the demands for change made by its customers and employees. A new name will also help eliminate any confusion among the public and the bank’s business partners in Iceland and abroad. Read the full story

It now seems extremely likely that New Kaupthing will take a 40 percent share in Hagar, the company behind Iceland’s biggest supermarkets and fashion retailers, and that Jon Asgeir Johannesson and other investors will be allowed to keep 60 percent by investing ISK 7 billion. The action will free Hagar’s current mother company from debt and remove it entirely from the picture. Foreign creditors will most likely bear the brunt of the ensuing multi-billion krona losses. Read the full story