A report by Danish lawyers on the fall of Denmark’s Roskilde Bank points to the likelihood of the bank’s previous management breaking the law on many occasions. The report could be very useful in Iceland as well, according to the country’s special bank collapse investigator and the head of the FME, the Icelandic financial supervisory body. Read the full story

The application of anti-terrorist laws against Iceland at the beginning of the banking crisis last October was unnecessarily harsh; this is the finding of a British parliament committee set up specifically to investigate events in the Icelandic economy and their effect on the United Kingdom. The committee also found that the laws need reviewing and clarifying to decide if it is right that they are used for situations such as the one that rose with the Icelandic financial crisis. The committee feels that the UK government should have alternative ways to react to these kind of situations. Read the full story

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE:

At a meeting held on 3 February, the Government of Iceland approved a proposal from the Prime Minister to conclude a contract with the international corporate advisory firm Hawkpoint to work under the supervision of Icelandic authorities on reaching a settlement between the old and new banks. Read the full story

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE CENTRAL BANK OF ICELAND:

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iceland has decided that Thórarinn G. Pétursson, acting Chief Economist of the Central Bank, shall take a seat on the Monetary Policy Committee. Other members include Central Read the full story

David Oddsson and Eirikur Gudnason, the governors of the Central Bank of Iceland, said a fond farewell to bank staff at a meeting earlier today, MBL reported. Read the full story

“The foreign debt of the Icelandic economy and the nation is beyond our power and the prospect is black,” said Haraldur L. Haraldsson, an economist, at a political debate hosted by the Organisation for Civic Action yesterday evening, mbl.is reported. Read the full story

On February 16th in Reykjavik, Iceland, the Organisation for Civic Action will host a debate on the state of the nation in the wake of the economic crisis and the collapse of the Icelandic banking system. Read the full story

Geir H. Haarde, the former Icelandic Prime Minister, was in a BBC HARDtalk interview last night. He was questioned especially about the blame of the financial collapse last October, communication between him and the British PM Gordon Brown and private talks with the governor of the Central Bank of Iceland, David Oddsson. Read the full story

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE ICELANDIC PM OFFICE:

Today, the International Monetary Fund published a report: “Review Under the Emergency Financing Mechanism”. The review was part of the IMF’s Emergency Financing Mechanism procedures, which were used to expedite the approval of the Stand-By Arrangement with Iceland on November 19, 2008. Read the full story

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE ICELANDIC PM’S OFFICE:

The Coordination Committee which has the overall responsibility of developing, implementing and communicating a comprehensive strategy for bank restructuring published its first report today at a press seminar. Mats Josefsson, the Swedish expert hired to assist the government in addressing the banking Read the full story