Icelandic bank’s rebirth is reassuringly prudent 9 Jun 2021 The state is selling 35% of Íslandsbanki, formerly known as Glitnir, which failed in 2008. Its funding, size and asset mix are a far cry from the racy pre-crisis days, when the country’s banking assets hit 10 times GDP. A $1.5 bln price tag looks cheap compared with peers.
Iceland butcher hopes for a killing by moving out 29 May 2019 High-tech abattoir-maker Marel, Iceland’s biggest company, is raising up to 390 mln euros through a secondary listing in Amsterdam. Opening up to global investors should help the 3 bln euro group expand. The big risk is climate-change pressure putting the knife into meat-eating.
Iceland’s Arion can spur rehab exit with hard cash 14 Jun 2018 The bank formerly known as Kaupthing will list a 25 pct stake, valuing its equity at around 135 billion Icelandic crowns (1.1 bln euros). A price of 0.6 times book reflects historical scepticism and declining margins. Overcapitalisation could make that look too harsh.
Iceland needs euro peg like cod needs bicycle 4 Apr 2017 The North Atlantic state’s finance minister suggests fixing the crown’s value to its euro zone peer. Iceland’s economy could use cooling. But its volatility means that focusing attention on inflows – or even pegging to a more appropriate currency – makes more sense.
Iceland gives hedgies cooler welcome than Greece 21 Mar 2017 Och-Ziff, Goldman Sachs and two funds bought 30 pct of Icelandic lender Arion, with an option to add more. In 2013, those brave enough to back Greek banks got juicier terms. As rare examples of European capital controls, both countries remain risky. Reykjavik is more alluring.
Football apart, UK has no reason to envy Iceland 28 Jun 2016 The Nordic nation outshone England on the pitch but its EU trade ties are nothing to emulate. It has the single market access that Britain already enjoys, only without any say over the rules. Nor can it dodge the free movement of people or contributions to the bloc’s budget.
Iceland first casualty of mostly pointless crusade 5 Apr 2016 Offshore assets exposed in the Panama Papers did for Iceland’s prime minister. It wouldn’t have happened if Icelanders didn’t expect better behaviour, and know how to ask for it. That’s the problem. Leaks thwack the mostly good, and leave the genuinely corrupt largely untroubled.
Iceland gives Greece chilly model of capital curbs 10 Jun 2015 It’s nearly seven years since the then-bankrupt Nordic nation froze many foreign exchange transactions. A thaw will start soon. The tactic worked but Greeks tempted by a southern version should be wary. Capital controls are hard to lift and only work with tough policy choices.
Edward Hadas: Iceland may have cure to bad banking 8 Apr 2015 The tiny island state had a particularly extravagant financial boom and an especially painful bust. It’s a great place to try something new. A parliamentarian there proposes moving to “sovereign money,” which fully separates money and credit. The experiment is well worth making.
Review: An Icelandic tycoon’s sorry saga 19 Dec 2014 Thor Bjorgolfsson embodies Iceland’s volcanic rise and fall. He made a fortune in post-Soviet Europe, lost a bank in 2008 and caused Deutsche Bank years of grief with Actavis. This deal junkie’s memoir is self-critical in parts - but unlikely to win many new friends in Reykjavik.
Iceland bank ruling finds UK was the greater fool 28 Jan 2013 A European court has ruled that Reykjavik didn’t break depositor protection laws in 2008, when UK and Dutch taxpayers paid for its bust banks. The verdict pans British and Dutch naivety. That’s fair, but it will complicate the drafting of new cross-border bank resolution plans.