Not only has Iceland jailed its corrupt bankers over their involvement in the financial crisis of 2008, but now every Icelander is to receive a payout from the sale of one the country’s largest banks.
Bjarni Benediktsson, the minister of finance has promised that each Icelander will get a 30,000 ISK (Icelandic Krona) pay-out for the proposed Íslandsbanki bank sale.
Grapevine reports:
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Speaking to attendees of the national convention of the Independence Party, of which Bjarni is the chairperson, Kjarninn reports that he submitted the idea that 5% of Íslandsbanki’s shares be distributed to each and every Icelander. As the value of the bank is currently placed at 187 billion ISK, 5% would come out to about 9.3 billion ISK, or just under 30,000 ISK for each Icelander.
“I am saying that the government take some decided portion, 5%, and simply hand it over to the people of this country,” he told attendees.
As reported, Íslandsbanki’s creditors have proposed that ISB Holding ehf., which owns 95% of shares in Íslandsbanki hf., transfer their entire holding in Íslandsbanki to the State, which would then become full owner of the bank.
This would put two of Iceland’s banks under the ownership of the government, RÚV reports, and Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, the vice chairperson of the Budget Committee, told reporters he was not especially happy about the government owning the bank, but that he believes it may be a necessary step towards lifting capital controls.
Minister of Finance Bjarni Benediktsson is more positive about the idea, saying that it will likely bring more foreign capital into the country. Former Minister of Finance and current Left-Green MP Steingrímur J. Sigfússon was not quite as optimistic, telling listeners of radio station Rás 2 this morning that “we shouldn’t lose the banks to the hands of fools,” saying that Iceland should rather focus on “separating commercial banking from investment banking.”
Iceland have just sent another five high profile bankers to prison for contributing to the collapse of Iceland’s economy in 2008.
The total number of high-level fraudsters imprisoned now totals 26 who are collectively serving 74 years in prison.
