A letter sent from the UK FSA, Financial Services Authority, to Landsbanki on the 3rd October 2008 established that assets were frozen five days before the British government introduced the terrorist law.
According to sources from a local Icelandic newspaper (Morgunbladid), the letter referred to the legislation of financial services and markets from the year 2000. GENPRU, the rules of supervision, said that the FSA had decided to put Landsbanki under certain conditions, including an unbound account in the UK containing no less than 10 percent of the overall deposit amount held on permanent deposit in British pounds.
These accounts would then have to increase up to no less than 20 percent of the funds before 6th October. During this time, Lanksbanki claimed it was almost impossible to provide such funds under extremely short notice. The FSA also stated that the account must be held at the British central bank, the Bank of England, or at a different account approved by the FSA.
An idea for super-speculators. How about doing something which allows you to take all the upside of speculation and none of the downside. How do you borrow loads of cash for investment speculation for your SPV’s without putting up any security or having any personal guarantee liability. And even allowing for roll up of interest and extension of terms so practically you can speculate for nothing? And walk away if it all goes wrong leaving creditors staring at bust SPV’s? That’s it – buy your own bank, where you make the rules! Is that what happened?
>That is the 200m GBP Darling was asking about and did not get, so the terrorist law was only used as a weapon to destroy KB and Iceland and had nothing to do with icesave.
The ATCSA was not used against Kaupthing. Although good point about the £200m – perhaps that is the case.
or was the terrorist law used after the conditions imposed earlier were not being obeyed?
That is the 200m GBP Darling was asking about and did not get, so the terrorist law was only used as a weapon to destroy KB and Iceland and had nothing to do with icesave.
“an unbound account in the UK containing no less than 10 percent in British Pounds”
10% of precisely what?
Is this a somewhat misleading article? Will many MBL readers read it to mean that Landsbanki’s UK assets were already frozen at the time that the ATCSA was used and that therefore the ATCSA was unnecessary?