Some pretty serious questions are now being raised about the injunction I wrote about in the last post.
The injunction was ordered by the Reykjavík District Commissioner, one Rúnar Guðjónsson. As it happens, the son of the Reykjavík District Commissioner, Guðjón Rúnarsson, is head of the Icelandic Financial Services Association and one of the top spokesmen for the failed banks. Among other things, he has fought to have the state’s Housing Financing Fund [which supplies the general public with affordable mortgages] abolished so that the banks could have exclusive dibs on the mortgage market.
Another son of the District Commissioner is Frosti Reyr Rúnarsson, who just happens to be the former head of Kaupthing’s securities brokerage division and one of the recipients of Kaupthing’s infamous bullet loans.
It just never stops, does it?
BEAUTIFUL DAY, SHAME ABOUT THE CORRUPTION
I’m going to get off the internet now and get me some of that sunshine to clear me head. Currently blazing sunshine here in the capital, 12°C [54F], the sun came up at 4.38 am and will set at 10.27 this evening.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Maybe it’s time for a revolution!
When my friends asking me about mafia and corruption in Iceland (after regular report how “transparent” the country is) I always tell them: “There are no mafia nor corruption here. Just relatives and friends”
And one more old rule:
“Capital eschews no profit, or very small profit, just as Nature was formerly said to abhor a vacuum. With adequate profit, capital is very bold. A certain 10 per cent. will ensure its employment anywhere; 20 per cent. certain will produce eagerness; 50 per cent., positive audacity; 100 per cent. will make it ready to trample on all human laws; 300 per cent., and there is not a crime at which it will scruple, nor a risk it will not run, even to the chance of its owner being hanged.”
(c) Karl Marx
As long as nobody is in jail, nothing stops.
But, given the high level of interconnectedness, I wonder, if there is any Icelandic judge able or willing to convict anybody – should there ever be any lawsuit, which might be doubted anyway.
This whole thing reminds me of another case, in which the old Kaupthing had sued the Danish paper, Ekstra Bladet (in the UK) after it had criticised them. This story has also been covered briefly in WikiLeaks under the heading of libel tourism to the UK.
http://www.wikileaks.com/wiki/Kafka_comes_to_the_British_courts
The ownership may have changed but the attitude has not.
And the new administrators of the bank seem to be completely ignorant of the fact, that this is a PR disaster for New Kaupthing. They seem to be still working in favour of the old connections, regardless of the consequences for the new bank and the Icelandic public. This is certainly not a way to gain trust from customers.
If this were in China, the billionaires would have been hauled into a lethal injection van by about Halloween. Christmas max.
Amazing…I think the other commentators got the thing right though.
If no one is in jail nor a revolutionary change made, nothing will really improve.
Same here in the USA. Same in Italy, France, Russia you name it. There needs to be a new further development in democracy worldwide. I have no clear idea of what this would be but the need is evident.
It is a PR disaster for the New Kaupthing as Ljósmynd said. It makes New Kaupthing into really Old Stinky Kaupthing.
Nepotism is endemic!
Sorry to see that Iceland is as corrupt as the United States (OK perhaps not as corrupt since that would likely be impossible).
Such a tragedy really that the Icelandic business and political models are the same as ours.
I used to have such admiration for Iceland – breaks my heart how people ultimately disappoint.
Doesn’t sound much different than the rest of the world.
Corruption isn’t the worst problem; that’s human nature and happens everywhere. The real problem is the ongoing failure of the state to punish that corruption. If the reason for that state failure is endemic nepotism, then what’s the long-term solution in an isolated related population of 300,000?
Well, I at least take some heart in that average people around here are trying to do something about this mess. Former government was removed, things get leaked to the press or to the internet, Eva Joly was asked to come assist in investigating. This is because the average/ordinary people here in Iceland are not ok with all of this. Reading Alda’s blog should prove that.
Jail and lethal injections? I’d rather have those responsible slave away worrying about mortgages in foreign currencies, than having to pay for their upkeep in some jail here in Iceland. I’m already paying enough for their doings. After all, money seems to be what they care most about. So I’d rather have them return the money.
It was mentioned by one of the local newspapers here in Iceland that one of the two former Landsbanki directors, Halldor j Kristjansson, who was real proud in his part in the whole Icesave nonsense is going to Canada in the fall to work as a bank director. I find this hard to believe. I know there was some talk about Canadians giving job permits to unemployed Icelanders, but why would the want to turn this guy loose on their bank system?
Wow, Europeans do bad things! That goes against everything I learned in college and read in the news. Only amerikkkans are corrupt.