Comments on: Kaupthing bank dishes up yet another scandal

By: Lauri Ahonen

Lauri Ahonen — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:08:28 +0000

“How hard can it be to create a banking system that is immune to the stupidity and evilness of bankers and politicians?”

The system has been created by bankers and politicians and it has been very successful in funneling money from the taxpayers to both bankers and politicians.

Who would you suggest to create the next version, i.e. who should get rich next?

By: andreas wedin

andreas wedin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:40:19 +0000

Makes our swedish woes about Swedbank pale considerably. If this kind of behaviour (if this isn’t akin to stealing please inform me how) isn’t illegal, then that’s a regulation issue I understand. How hard can it be to create a banking system that is immune to the stupidity and evilness of bankers and politicians?

By: alda

alda — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:51:26 +0000

Lee – well, Eva Joly is the cause of some controversy here as I’ve mentioned before, but I personally still think she’s our only hope of getting any justice.

maria, jim – thanks.

Andrew – I’m not sure it is illegal. Immoral, yes – but I think the illegal part is somewhere in a gray area. And that’s what the investigation will reveal.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:39:17 +0000

I presume that all this is illegal in Iceland!! If so, why hasn’t anyone been arrested yet?

I hope the Summer weather has improved your mood a bit!

By: jim crosbie

jim crosbie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:25:06 +0000

I’m with Maria.

By: maría

maría — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:32:58 +0000

“wait wait”! HAHAH
I love your style. I never get tired of reading you.

By: Vikingisson

Vikingisson — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:25:36 +0000

I know that everyone wants to find these obviously corrupt execs and politicians that conveniently took billions for themselves days before the collapse. Prosecute, humiliate and everything else that makes it seem like justice is being done. After watching the handful that go on trial and ultimate jail time in North America I can say that the so called justice is short lived. The billions are still missing and we the so called people are still responsible for paying it back. Reality hits and the lawyers laugh hysterically all the way to another bank, again.

Justice can come later but how about reversing the original deals and call in those loans and making those involved responsible for paying them back just like us poor slobs? I’d even offer amnesty. Pay back the billions and we don’t prosecute. The bank itself and the criminals that gave it away and then forgave the loans are another story, they are hunted down and forced to play evil characters on Lazy Town for 10 years. Or something that makes us laugh and feel like justice is done. But get the money back first.

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:27:08 +0000

“Outraged yet? – Wait, wait … it gets better”

LOL… It’s a long time since the collapse, so do Icelanders still genuinely think that Eva Joly will be able to sufficiently influence the prosecution culture? Or are Icelanders finally accepting that those responsible will never be held to account and most of those who committed crimes will never be charged? I suspect that an exasperated Eva Joly has already moved from the former to the latter as it became clear the investigation was a charade. Icelanders blamed the collapse on bankers, regulators and government; I wonder who they’ll blame for the lack of prosecutions; a modern-day playwright might muse that something is rotten in the state of Iceland…

By: alda

alda — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:37:10 +0000

LDE – If it’s frustrating for you, imagine how it must be for us! Aaaaargh!!

Jessie – well, that’s what we’re all hoping, but as she herself pointed out the Icelanders have been dragging their heels in the investigation. It really is UNBELIEVABLE how slowly it is progressing.

Oscar – true, but only once with her husband, I think – to the finals.

Max – why thank you!

Hildigunnur – definitely. The sense I have of the era we’re about to sail into is that it’s similar to what it was like here 15 years ago when I moved back to Iceland. Sure, things were a little tough, I drove around on a ratty old Fiat and had hardly any money, but everything worked out fine. And I was SO happy to be back here after 20 years abroad – I appreciated the landscape so much, and the fresh air, and all the good things we have here.

Peter – yes indeed, that’s her!

By: Peter Reeves

Peter Reeves — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:21:33 +0000

Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir embodies the very worst of Iceland.
Wasn’t it her that dismissively told a financial expert to ‘learn his trade’ when he questioned the solidity of the Icelandic economy?
Truly staggering that someone so inept and corrupt is not investigated.