Yes, all the more this kind of documents should be disclosed to the Icelandic public.

One of the first things that Eva said before she was formally engaged was that the money will, for the most part, never be recovered. Although the investigation will easily recover enough to pay for itself, the main thrust was to ensure that the social contract in Iceland was not shattered. Or something like that.

The main task of this investigation – to trace and get back stolen money. They didn’t disappear. And for sure – they are stolen.
And all this rush with Icesave (imho) is just an attempt to bury the process of retrieving the stolen money and close the case. So they guys can keep their money and all others pays for it.

PS. This doesn’t mean the matter is hopeless. But it must be done in unprecedent way as well

Investigation is just a part of process. Also it’s not that simple and quick as you might think – rather few people have to search through tens of thousands of documents to find out traces of EVIDENCES.

I would expect this whole investigation process to be anything but quick and simple. Eva Joly herself has complained repeatedly about the investigation team being understaffed.

But I think, it is essential to keep the Icelandic public informed. They can’t just wait for several years until some judge may finally have acknowledged some evidence. If a document like the Kaupthing loan book has the power to stir up such a furor, then the whole society is prone to wild speculations, discontent and unrest about things not yet revealed. So, I would consider the bank secrecy laws concerning the old banks of lower priority than the public interest in proper information – like about some Landsbanki or Glitnir loan book, which should have been found by now.

And of course, a law offering a reduced sentence for serving as witness in a trial should be an option to speed things up.

Ljósmynd DE :

Asked in your interview with Eva Joly about how long the investigation should take, she predicted a five-year time frame. …
… And according to her, bank secrecy laws are not an issue, so, why does it take so long? By now it should have been time enough to turn every computer upside down to find compromising documents like the Kaupthing loan book at Landsbankinn and Glitnir, too.

Ljósmynd DE.
Most likely Eva Joly was talking about the length of proper legal procedures i.e. court decisions. Investigation is just a part of process. Also it’s not that simple and quick as you might think – rather few people have to search through tens of thousands of documents to find out traces of EVIDENCES. Then they have to collect these evidences – in proper legal manner again etc.
So there are two “express” methods.

One – the guys plead guilty and hand over stolen money.
Two – we hire some people who (for a fraction of cost) would make such an offer to the guys mentioned above that impossible to reject (unless you want to see yourself in a nice coffin).

But probability of these two express methods are next to zero. So several years is realistic time. And optimistic as well…

Fred/Scott – I don’t know the answer to your question, but my hunch is that Bromley is right.

As to your question of whether foreigners can own bank assets – it was revealed recently that foreign creditors of both Glitnir and Kaupthing will get major stakes in the banks [if not acquire them in their entirety]. So obviously the answer to that is yes.

There is major debate now, though, over whether foreigner can own Iceland’s resources. Like I said, I don’t exactly know where the law stands at present, but there are loud demands for legislation to be passed that would ban this – because there are precisely those fears now. That foreign creditors can come in and demand our resources if all those foreign debts cannot be repaid. Hence the big debate over sovereignty, Icesave, the EU, etc.

This is old information, but I think the general principle still applies:

“Fishing in the Icelandic economic zone is reserved for Icelandic nationals and only Icelandic registered vessels may be used. For joint stock companies wishing to engage in fishing, at least half the capital has to be owned by nationals of Iceland, the company domiciled in Iceland, the directors must be Icelandic nationals and at least half the board of directors must live in Iceland.”
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/38/60/2349594.pdf

Of course, I assume that the banks count as Icelandic nationals, so there’s no problem there. If repossed though, the quota rights can effectively only be sold on to Icelanders.

Of course, income streams that would otherwise have been Icelandic will now be diverted off outside of Iceland. But that’s the result of not paying back money that’s effectively been syphoned off (i.e. when those income strams were Icelandic, they weren’t being used in a way that benefited the people of Iceland).

Whichever government is going to rule, without a proper investigation there will be social discontent. And all politicians, who have their dirty laundry hidden somewhere, must always fear being blackmailed. That’s anything but a promising new beginning.