Comments on: Here are the charred ruins of Landsbanki. Now kindly write off our ISK 3 billion debt

By: Ljósmynd DE

Ljósmynd DE — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:09:01 +0000

A couple of days ago an Icelandic friend was driving us around in the country. The recent news were part of almost every conversation with Icelanders on the way. So, while the mood is already down, there are reasons to expect, that at a not too distant point in the future, something in society is going to explode.

We are currently into the third day of spotless blue skies in the south and interior of Iceland. It started with ascending the Sveinstindur mountain, which provides one of the most stunning views Iceland has to offer. It would be hard to see this beautiful area fall prey to new power plants providing energy for the unsustainable production of candy wrappers and softdrink cans, which is the bulk of what aluminium is produced for.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:00:53 +0000

With the daily news of the banks getting weirder and more depressing every week, I can completely understand why some Icelanders are eagerly packing up their stuff and accepting that visa offer from Manitoba. Or fleeing to Norway. Sad.

By: Carl Mosconi

Carl Mosconi — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:53:37 +0000

How the game is played.

http://www.economicdisasterarea.com/index.php/news/for-those-that-get-away-we-salute-you/

By: Oscar

Oscar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:46:25 +0000

If Kaupthing writes a percentage of their loan off they had better plan on
writing off the same amount on my mortgage! It´s easy to see how Russia was a good fit for these guys.

By: Jessie

Jessie — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:11:27 +0000

Thanks, Alda. Sorry, if i missed that earlier. The law is far from perfect here in the US, but it’s common for a federal judge to temporarily freeze assets pending the outcome of an investigation in a situation like this (criminal or civil), because the longer the investigation takes, the more likely the assets will be spent or shuffled around (i.e. hidden) and irretrievable down the line.

It just seems to me that Icelanders should be demanding this. I understand the situation is complicated and it may be difficult to determine the full extent of the people involved at this point, but some of the allegedly primary culprits under investigation are known.

I respect the efforts Eva Joly has made with the investigation, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but it doesn’t seem like the time or place to be soft on people who have (allegedly) committed such egregious acts (and continue to do so). Icelanders should not have to sit and watch people under investigation take vacations in Cannes while they default on their own loans. It doesn’t seem the government has been accommodating at all in providing Joly with the number of investigators she needs. At the very least, take some law students, put them in a room, and get them to work on document/email review.

By: Lee

Lee — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:43:49 +0000

Assets can be frozen and then, if suspicions are incorrect, they can be unfrozen later. That’s the point of asset freezing orders: you normally don’t wait until all the details have been established, otherwise the assets could be long gone. This is so obvious that Eva Joly’s answer seems weak. Maybe it’s an artefact of Scandanavian culture. You could bet your life that, if the UK or US found themselves in similar circumstances, they wouldn’t have hesitated to slap on many asset freezing orders ages ago…

By: alda

alda — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:41:19 +0000

Jessie – I asked Eva Joly that question in the interview I did with her a few weeks back. Her answer:

“Yes, it is viable to freeze assets, but first it must be established what the offenses were, who benefited from them, and so on. After that, assets can begin to be confiscated.”

By: Jessie

Jessie — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:47:07 +0000

Why hasn’t a judge ordered a lien against all personal assets of these knuckleheads who drove the banks into the ground, including those suspected of using their insider knowledge from their positions to ransack the banks just prior to their collapse? Or am I missing something? If someone saw Bernie Madoff sunbathing off the coast of Southern France after pilfering billions from people for his own luxury, he would be beheaded.

Ordering these people to disgorge their money and selling off their assets might not cover all the Icesave debt, but it’s a start… Where is the judicial system in all of this?

By: kevin o'connor waterford Ireland

kevin o'connor waterford Ireland — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:38:10 +0000

This icelandic saga gets truly amazing by the day I thought our Anglo Irish bank guys were good real good but well how wrong I was, I wish I had the money to go on vacation to Iceland catch the mood of the nation etc,This is real french revolution stuff

By: Bryan Bessette

Bryan Bessette — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:49:14 +0000

Alda,

I completely agree with your observation in the final paragraph.

As far as Kaupthing describing the suggestion as VIABLE, that is outrageous. I think the word they were looking for is VILE.