Today local authorities report that around 4000 people gathered at Austurvollur in front of the Icelandic Parliament to protest against the situation and the lack of information provided by the government to the public.
According to eyewitnesses, eggs and oranges were thrown at the Parliament walls and shouts made at the police when they tried to control the situation.
This protest is a part of a series of weekly gatherings that have been growing in numbers over the past weeks.
According to a woman attending the protest the growing numbers are understandable and even the throwing of eggs towards the parliament building is understandable. “People are angry and disappointed. I am afraid that this will escalate if nothing happens,” she explained.
To EEA/EU Lawyer:
I agree I’m not 100% familiar with the situation and very much appreciate you objective input in clarifying the matter.
You mentioned that “The UK would have been prosecuted – rightly and successfully – if it had denied a legally formed financial company supervised by a Central Bank of a fellow EEA/EU country from opening branches and taking deposits in the UK. It would have been deemed discrimatory and contrary to the principles of the open market.”
At the same time, isn’t it still possible to deny a legally formed financial company from another EEA/EU country from opening branches if the UK had any suspicions that a tiny country might not have the capacity to pay in a worst-case scenario, or lacked proper controls, etc, etc.? It would seem to be in the best interest of UK citizens to challenge the law in some way.
If Greenland were to become independent of Denmark and be included in the EEA, would the UK accept branches of a Greenland-based bank (if it existed) because “it would have been deemed discrimatory and contrary to the principles of the open market” or would the UK be able to successfully challenge this? There has to be some limit.
I agree that the talent pool in Iceland is not as large as the talent pool in the UK and therefore the UK has the talent and experience needed in the financial public sector. So how they let the issues you raised get by them and be so remiss when it comes to protecting HM subjects remains mystery to me.
Other English speaking inhabitants tell me their experience is that Icelanders are actually opening up a bit. Some natives actually starting a conversation in the hot pots.
Usually with a “what are you still doing here”, “get out while you can” banter.
Of course, you’ll find some idiots everywhere. The emphasis on some.
Welcome to reality and stop whining.
I’m from Spain and to be honest I’m more than happy to see Iceland collapsing. For decades now I have been sick and tired of the continuing criticism of Spain and the Southern European countries from the supposedly superior Nordic counterparts.
Nordic people were supposed to be the best educated, most honest in the world and their countries the less corrupt.
It turns out it is the other way round. Iceland was operating like a “mafia-like” country, its citizens were overspending speculators with credit cards and debt, there was widespread corruption in the highest spheres of the government, the real estate bubble was horrendously bigger than the one in Spain.
After all, Iceland was nothing more than a northern Sicily, ran by a small group of speculators with no political control. Where was your supposedly crisp clean government all these years? What was the central bank doing?
For your information, wine producers in Spain could find great use to vasts amount of cheap labor from poor countries like Morocco, Iceland and Senegal.
I am an English guy living in Iceland……i have been here a few years now and i fell in love with your country and your people from the first day i got here. I work hard and i contribute to my community in so many ways…..
Its a shame that some narrow minded people have allowed this situation to change their attitude towards me and other british people. I know you are angry but just ask yourself what you would have wanted your government to do in the same situation……you would have expected them to defend your best interests in the same way i’m sure.
I have grown up surrounded by racism all my life and have been ashamed of people in England for abusing black and asian people. If someone hurts me or someone i love then yes, i would hate them……but “me” I have done nothing to hurt Iceland just the same as my fellow british people living here haven’t either.
Please, I beg you to take a good long look in the mirror and decide if you want to become a nation of racists ??
I used to love your beautiful country……but now i am sad to say that i feel very uncomfortable here. Really hoping that you can rise above this and get back to being the people that you were and that i was proud to live amongst.
I thought the news that hundreds more police (I got the impression they are some sort of reservists?) were to be hired was very sinister, though entirely predictable. The government is well aware of what lies ahead.
The dallying over the IMF loan is typical. Immediately the UK was blamed for “coercion”, citing a few rumours and nothing more. The UK is alleged to be trying to force Iceland to commitments outside it’s legal obligations. Who knows? There isn’t a shred of information about the negotiations. “Iceland has always met it’s commitments and always will” huffed Geir Haarde in indignation. Whilst everyone, including the UK government knows full well it hasn’t the means. Iceland’s international credibility is lower than a snake’s armpits, and it’s government is just making a deep hole even deeper. “We would rather withdraw the application than suffer blackmail” he continued. Well we only have his word for it, and his word is somewhat degraded, given the criminal incompetency that has passed for financial regulation in Iceland over the past few years. And what if the application is withdrawn? Bankruptcy a reality, so who’s blackmailing who, Geir?
Seems the IMF delay is more to do with the Nordic countries being very reticent about putting more money in. Not such a convenient story to report.
If I remember well, there were 1000 people on first protest, 2000 on second, and now 4000 on this one. Protestors probably won’t read this, but is this behaviour -throwing eggs- the good old Icelandic way to manage problems? I would rather expect unity…
The truth is probaly that 1) the government had very few ways to avoid the financial problem – lack of power (politics vs big money), lack of knowledge (althoug “EEA/EU Lawyer” brings some light on this point), lack of competencies; and that 2) they still have very limited powers… They gained political power back, but just have no way to save the krona, avoid coming unemployment, or pay reparations. There’s just no magical solution – even turning to UE or Euro will take months, if not years.
Sure, it’s going to be difficult living without SUVs, flat screens, PSPs, olive oil, and holidays in Spain. But your parents managed to live this way, and all Icelanders, before this generation. Iceland was for a long time one of the hardest countries to live in, and your people still are one of the toughest. I think the police’s motto, “með lögum skal land byggja”, “with laws shall a land be built”, perfectly illustrates that unity is the only solution.
Of course the government also should apply this, should know that rumors are worse than information, and communicate more on next issues… but, are people ready to hear the truth ?
Can someone post good and fresh sources for these information:
– foreign money reserves amount and duration
– krona exchange rate on “black market” (I read 300)?
– number of unemployed people
– number of bankrupt people
– number of suicides (one again, there are rumors on this…)
Which are the best blogs / forums on these subjects ? Any place or chance to read some daily synthesis in english ?
Nice. Thanks for the detail EEA/EU Lawyer.
This is presumably the BC report from that visit:
http://www3.hi.is/~ajonsson/kennsla2006/Barclays%20Capital%20-%2011%20April%202006.pdf
#David
Below is what UK IceSavers were told by IceSave and the Icelandic Financial Services Association – just before the sh*t hit the fan. Being concerned I tried to withdraw money – but found that I could not do so without a specified linked account to withdraw to.
Despite Icesave being an internet based system I was told that I would have to notify in writing by letter the account I wished to transfer funds to and this would take 7 working days. Well 4 days later the bank went down taking my savings.
Icelanders could at least save some credibility by having the guts to stand up and accept responsibility for this debacle – even if they cannot pay now – an expression of willingness to do so would have been valuable………….
In the unlikely event of problems; how would the passport protection work?
This is something we’ve raised with Icesave; below is its response, which was backed up by a document from the Icelandic Financial Services Association; confirming the legal strength of the info.
“Icelandic banks pay into a fund which is set aside to be paid out for compensation should it be needed – the UK scheme doesn’t have this and could therefore technically take longer than the Icelandic scheme!” (Note from Martin: The UK scheme is set up to call money in if needed, rather than work on a pot of money system).
All talk of compensation schemes is purely hypothetical because they have never been used, but given the above, there is no reason to assume that the Icelandic scheme would be any more complicated or take longer.
In the extremely unlikely event that the Icelandic government wasn’t in a position to meet all claims, all the Nordic countries have an arrangement where they will step in and help any one of the participating countries that are in trouble so there is an additional layer of reassurance and cover.
If you could make it clear that Icesave customers are fully protected up to £35k the same as customers of any UK bank and that they will be paid as quickly I’d be very grateful!”
To EEA/EU Lawyer:
This sounds very interesting, but is there any proof of these meetings and what was said there?
dont call yourself ‘EEA/EU Lawyer’ if you only see things from one side.
David – you have no idea what you are talking about. Landsbanki operated in the UK under licence from the Icelandic authorities: the FME and Seðlabanki. The UK would have been prosecuted – rightly and successfully – if it had denied a legally formed financial company supervised by a Central Bank of a fellow EEA/EU country from opening branches and taking deposits in the UK. It would have been deemed discrimatory and contrary to the principles of the open market.
The issue is that Landsbanki was using those overseas deposits to offset its loss of liquidity in Iceland. This was an example of the poorly regulated financial system in Iceland – such an accounting trick, while not illegal, does not conform to accepted accounting standards. This was explained to Landsbanki (and the other two banks and Seðlabanki, and Geir Haarde – who was present) at a meeting in London held at the end of March 2006. They were all told that while the banks might legally – within Iceland – book those deposits against their Icelandic balance sheets this was in fact a complete fallacy. No sovereign (in the jargon) would countenance those deposits being moved out of their jurisdiction. In times of stress they were told such deposits would be frozen. That is exactly what Sweden, Holland, the UK, Belgium, Germany etc etc did.
At that same meeting Barclays Capital advised the Icelandic authorities to require the Icelandic banks to publish UNconsolidated accounts which showed the breakdown of the balance sheet country by country. The Icelandic authorities refused since this would have revealed that the three banks were already close to bankruptcy. From early 2006 onwards liquidity for the three banks began to dry up. To plug those holes they took more and more deposits. Hence the final disaster. The fault lies entirely within the realm of the Icelandic regulatory sphere – the government for pssing such poor financial legislation (a government which was elected by the individual Icelanders – so they are ultimately responsible) and the Seðlabanki for its arms-length operations. The FME has some excuse since it was given very few powers and had little real supervisory control.
Icelanders are not liable for the mistakes of the British Government. The British Government obviously did not exercise fiduciary responsibility to its citizens by carefully checking the reserves of the private Icelandic banks. If they had, they would never have let Landsbanki open Icesave in Britain. But they didn’t and failed British savers. Britain is to blame for that, not the Icelandic people.
Now THAT’s what it looks like in a real democracy if the government loses touch!
I really hope you can cope without the EU as we’re suffering from continuous decline of civil rights here.
Don`t worry guys.. the police of Reykjavik has grown by 250 members in the last weeks.
One year ago, this numbered was unimaginable. Now it seems like they think they have enough power to overpower the protesters.
i must say that i am afraid Of what happens if this gets worse. Joe far are we willing to go?
That’s double the numbers of the first protest, right? Good trend.
Icelanders have to be quiet. The economic crisis has not saved almost never Country. It ‘ld better that in
Iceland the angry will finish very soon.
Good start, people.
Although eggs are a bit overkill – there should be a *civilized* way to make your leaders take the responsibility and explain the numbers to the people of iceland and people abroad.
I cannot get it – the obvious “it is not my problem” attitude of your government. Iceland is facing draining its foreign money reserves to prop up illusory exchange rate, people face fall of the living standard to 30% of the previous level (not kidding, it is clear that stable krona rate would be 1/3 of what was months ago, and this will create havoc since icelanders depend on imports), massive unemployment, huge reparations even if only 20.000 EUR guarantee per savings account is honoured – and that IS a minimum. Now imagine krona losing 2/3 of its value, and the debt to the savers (20K EUR per account) nominated in EUR.
Horror.
And your government is waiting for the storm to pass, or what?