Glitnir collapsed roughly a week after the government stepped in as a shareholder and all investments made in the bank during that week were therefore lost.

An advertisement published in Morgunbladid and Frettabladid newspapers says people who bought Glitnir shares in the week leading up to the bank’s nationalisation were robbed by the government of the time – in many cases losing all their savings. The advert continues that affected people should join the group which intends to fight for a refund of lost money, all the way to the European courts if necessary.

The group says that after the state took a 75 percent share in Glitnir on 29th September 2008, a further ISK 3.9 billion was invested in the failing business.

The investors defend their decision to invest in Glitnir saying the government intimated that its involvement in the bank would save it from collapse and ensure a long future. People who believed the government stance therefore believed Glitnir was an excellent safe investment choice at a time when the entire global banking system seemed to be unravelling.