Icelandic terrorism stalks the Eurobanks
David Stevens
"British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has threatened
to sue Iceland to recover the lost deposits of some
300,000 Britons who hold accounts with IceSave,
the online arm of Landsbanki.
"With local governments also holding accounts
worth tens of millions of pounds (dollars) in
Icelandic banks, the British government has
also used powers under terrorism laws to freeze
Landsbanki's assets until the status of the
deposits is resolved."
- (Associated Press)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081009/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_iceland_meltdown
- David Stevens
rab
Yes, defend Iceland agains the imperialist bullies. We supported
Iceland in the cod wars years ago and certainly should support them
against the imperialist bullies today. After all Icelandic banks were
just following the speculative fashion of the time, that fashion that
led Gordon Brown to say that there would be no return to boom and
bust. Fishing is much less profitable these days, we should be
concerned about the Icelandic working class.
Roger
John Holmes
I agree. Be it noted that once upon a time Iceland was definitely an
imperialist nation. The Vikings were definitely some pretty brutal
imperialists by all accounts, including when they ruled Russia.
Indeed, most historians think that "the Rus" were originally a
Viking band.
And pretty anti-Semitic, they definitely hated the Jewish kingdom they
neighbored that APST was discussing a few months back. Arguably this
really was the origins of Russian anti-Semitism. Blame it on the
Norse.
-jh-
David Stevens
own gift to our ruling class. I don't know whether UK laws used
against Iceland were post-2001 developments, or whether they
are leftovers from the Northern Ireland Troubles. The gears of
State repression have a ratchet. They ratchet up, never down.
(Attached from _News Line_) the British state is still trying to
ratchet its repression upwards.
- David Stevens
----------------
Author Philip Pullman, winner of the Carnegie
Medal and the Whitbread Book of the Year Prize,
writes:
'We don't know how lucky we are to live in a
nation where police officers have all of six weeks
to discover why they've locked us up.
'Ask them after 41 days why a prisoner is still
behind bars, and they can honestly and innocently
say, "No idea, mate". But give them that extra day,
and they'll crack it.'
-- 42 WRITERS OPPOSE 42 DAYS DETENTION
http://www.wrp.org.uk/news/3617
Vngelis
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/17/iceland-creditcrunch
Vngelis
Soon others will follow the same pattern, bankclosures, limits in
withdrawals, foreclosures of big mortgages, meltdown.
Welcome to the beginnning of the end of the US world order.
vngelis
stephen
> In the US, flexible laws against "terrorism" are Osama bin Laden's
> own gift to our ruling class.
Bullshit.
srd
Vngelis
two birds with one stone.
a) many British councils have around a £1 billion invested there
b) get money out of the Russians
There is a public sector pay crisis that has been brewing over the
last two years due to Browns pay limits, now they have an excuse that
they have lost money...to not pay or to increase taxes
Inevitably it will be a prelude to clamping down on offshore accounts
within the territory of the UK
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/80f767e4-9882-11dd-ace3-000077b07658.html
The shocking errors of Iceland’s meltdown
By Richard Portes
Published: October 12 2008 18:49 | Last updated: October 12 2008 18:49
The US authorities’ decision to let Lehman fail will be severely
criticised by financial historians – the next generation of Bernankes.
That precipitated the current acute financial crisis. The Bear Stearns
operation had protected counterparties, but after Lehman all remaining
trust vanished. Money markets and interbank lending froze completely.
Spreads on credit default swaps rose to levels signalling both extreme
fear and feverish speculation.
Iceland’s Glitnir Bank was among the first casualties. One of the many
vicious circles in this crisis ensnared Iceland’s banks: they were
deemed too risky because the country’s central bank seemed not to be a
credible lender of last resort, while the government and central bank
were deemed not credible because they might have to take over the
banks.
The markets hit Glitnir first. Like fellow Icelandic banks Landsbanki
and Kaupthing, Glitnir was solvent. All posted good first-half
results, all had healthy capital adequacy ratios, and their dependence
on market funding was no greater than their peers’. None held any
toxic securities. These banks had been managed well since their “mini-
crisis” in early 2006.
No matter – when foreign short-run credit lines closed, Glitnir had to
request a short-term loan from the Central Bank of Iceland, which
refused. Rather than taking Glitnir into administration, the CBI
enforced nationalisation on punitive terms. The governor, David
Oddsson, was prime minister for 13 years prior to moving to the CBI in
2005. His decision reflected politics, technical incompetence and
ignorance of markets, and his comments thereafter were highly
destabilising.
This triggered a sovereign debt downgrade and a sharp further fall in
the already depreciated krona. Short-run funding for Glitnir and
Landsbanki evaporated, margin calls came from the European Central
Bank, loan covenants kicked in because of the downgrade. With the
banks unable to meet commitments, Iceland’s financial regulators put
them into administration.
Kaupthing still seemed viable. But last Tuesday, Mr Oddsson made
public remarks that were interpreted to mean that Iceland would not
meet its obligations to UK depositors. This was politics for home
consumption. So was the UK’s retaliation, with an ill-considered
invocation of anti-terror laws to seize the UK assets not only of
Landsbanki, but also of Kaupthing. Gordon Brown’s highly aggressive
statement was not his best moment of the financial crisis.
Kaupthing was collateral damage. Britain’s seizure of its Singer and
Friedlander subsidiary destroyed the larger bank, as covenants on loan
agreements were activated. The UK and Iceland appear now to have
agreed on dealing with depositors, but too late for Kaupthing. Still,
it would be foolish for the UK authorities to impair Kaupthing’s
assets further.
Meanwhile the krona fell to ridiculous lows offshore, while domestic
trading of the currency ceased. The CBI then made a further egregious
error, the prime minister another. The CBI had mishandled its interest
rate policy and the foreign exchange markets since early 2008. On
Monday, it announced a currency peg at a rate well above the market.
Without effective controls, this was unsustainable, and was abandoned
by Tuesday. The prime minister prematurely announced a €4bn ($5bn,
£3bn) loan from Russia, but it emerged that negotiations would start
only this week. What was meant to restore confidence did the opposite.
The Icelandic banks were highly leveraged and large relative to the
domestic economy. So are those of the UK and Switzerland. None has
been immune to the devastating effects of the crisis. And there may be
significant contagion from Iceland to countries vulnerable to capital
flow reversals.
There are further lessons. Politicians should not become central bank
governors. Mr Oddsson is part of the problem, not of any solution, and
should resign immediately. Allowing partial “euroisation” was a recipe
for instability. And Iceland was unable or unwilling to arrange early
international support, nor did it wish to call in the International
Monetary Fund.
Iceland could now negotiate an IMF programme with conditionality and
lending from the Fund. But letting the currency float is likely to be
disastrous, even with (or because of) much higher interest rates. They
could peg the currency with capital controls. Or they could announce
they are entering into negotiations to join the European Union, with a
commitment to join the euro. If they do, the eurozone authorities
should agree to support a reasonable exchange-rate band.
The debacle is due to the unexpected severity of the financial crisis
and shocking policy errors. But Iceland has excellent institutions and
human capital, as well as sophisticated service enterprises. Its
people will have to absorb a temporary fall in their high living
standards. Its banks will be revived as much smaller institutions,
still with highly capable managers. It will ultimately prosper again.
The writer is Professor of Economics at London Business School
Vngelis
The recession in construction in Iceland has been more severe than
expected for companies in this industry. Many immigrant workers are
expected to leave the country because of it; construction work in
Iceland has largely been undertaken with the aid of foreign labor.
“We have heard it in work places that the number of foreigners is
dropping. We have known it for some time that there has been movement
among them. For a long time new workers always came along, but I find
it likely that it has come to an end,” Thorbjörn Gudmundsson at
Samidn, a federation of labor union for construction workers, told
Morgunbladid.
“I have also heard, without being able to confirm it, that companies
want to try and switch over to Icelandic workers,” Gudmundsson said,
adding that although such a change can be positive, it is of vital
importance that foreign laborers can leave their jobs under regular
procedure and that their rights are protected.
Gudmundsson said that although the recession in construction has been
more severe than companies in this industry had expected, they knew it
was coming. “Companies have been looking towards terminating
employment contracts, but that takes a full three months. I’m sure […]
that people want to speed these procedures up because projects they
thought they had only two weeks ago are being canceled.”
Gudmundsson concluded by saying that it is important that those who
have funds, like the state and municipalities, think ahead,
prioritizing operations in construction and undertaking projects with
job-creation in mind.
On Wednesday, the Polish Consul to Iceland Michal Sikorski held a well-
attended meeting where Polish immigrants in Iceland were advised,
among other things, how to do up their taxes so they can leave the
country legally, Morgunbladid reports.
According to Sikorski, around 150 of the 300 attendees had already
decided to move away from Iceland. Many of those had lost their jobs
or were about to. The majority of the remaining attendees said they
worried that they would also be left unemployed.
Poles are the largest group of immigrants in Iceland.
Vngelis
17/10/2008 | 11:00
Bloody Mess
Some readers have criticized me and other columnists for being too
positive and making jokes in light of the seriousness of the economic
crisis in Iceland (although I have received equally as many
compliments.)
One reader commented that Iceland had become a laughing stock to the
rest of the world, pointing out that someone from the UK with a dark
sense of humor had put Iceland on sale on eBay while an American
launched the website adoptanicelander.com, which “seeks to help young
Icelanders maintain their leisurely lifestyles.”
Our Nordic neighbors in Denmark walked around Copenhagen in Icelandic
sweaters urging their countrymen to make donations to save Iceland and
then handed the donations over to the Icelandic Embassy in Copenhagen
(notably, the person donating the highest amount was Icelandic).
Since I also happen to have a dark sense of humor, I’m happy to have a
laugh at these jokes at my own expense. But what disturbs me about
this situation is how much darker it is played out in the foreign
media than it actually is. (Read Jonas’s take on that matter here).
Many readers have asked me whether it’s true that Iceland has gone
bankrupt as they’ve read in their local newspapers. That is not
surprising considering that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
claimed that he believed Iceland had in fact gone bankrupt in an
interview with Sky News. The statement caused an outrage among
Icelandic officials, since a) it was not true and b) the Icelandic
economy suffered yet another blow because of it.
People seem to worry that we are on the brink of famine, which I can
assure you, we are not. Concerned and thoughtful readers ask how they
can help, to which my immediate response is: trade and tourism—that is
our lifeline right now. Should we lose all connection with the outside
world (which I seriously doubt will ever happen), sheep outnumber
people in Iceland and we have plenty of fish in the sea. Fish catch is
up—a positive story among all the bad ones.
That said, difficult times lie ahead of us here, as in other parts of
the world. This is an international crisis after all, but due to our
miniscule population of roughly 300,000 and the fact that the banks
which have now collapsed were at one time worth 12 times our GNP, the
situation worsens quicker and more severely here than in most other
western states. The chain reaction to the downfall of the banks has
only just begun; companies will give up one after the other and people
will lose their jobs.
This is a bloody mess, and like Bjarni commented on Wednesday, people
are angry. But we can and will use this anger to fight our way through
this mess and once we rise from the ashes of the economic meltdown,
hopefully we will be a stronger and wiser nation.
When the time comes we will recognize where mistakes were made and
make sure they do not happen again.
The way I see it, the first mistake was made when the banks were
privatized in the beginning of the millennium without any ground rules
being laid. The happy bankers were given a free reign and they took
loans and grew out of proportion with merely numbers on paper to
support their conglomerates. Once the international credit crunch
knocked on the door and loans stopped flowing in, they collapsed, like
one banker from another type of economic school described, as a
“reverse pyramid.”
The banks that are still standing after this financial hurricane are
the small savings banks in the countryside that have simply
concentrated on the domestic market and not bitten off more than they
could chew. A good example is Sparisjódur Sudur Thingeyinga in Laugar,
northeast Iceland, which posted an ISK 54 million (USD 489,000, EUR
358,000) profit in Q2 and now people from all over the country are
relocating their savings to this small bank.
Individuals and businesses in the countryside, which were not part of
the economic upswing—read irresponsible expansion—to begin with are
not affected much by the current crisis either. Small villages in the
remote countryside, like Thórshöfn, say they have plenty of jobs
available and one reader told me that he has already decided to apply.
Maybe this crisis will create a reverse urbanization process and
people will move back to their home towns and away from the capital
region.
Icelanders are returning to their roots, reconnecting with their
traditions and keeping their spirits up. I don’t know what the outside
world expects from us, but that is the only thing we can do. A good
way to deal with this mess is to create a different kind of bloody
mess: make slátur, blood and liver pudding from scratch in the company
of good friends. People seem to be doing just that because slátur
sales are booming. It’s messy, yes, but oh, so good!
Vngelis
(Vinstrihreyfingin - grænt framboð)
The party was founded on February 6th 1999 after a few months work,
aiming to unite socialist and conservationist groups for the elections
held on May 8th.
The prelude was a structural reorganisation on the left wing of
Icelandic politics. On the one hand there were those who prepared the
unification of three existing parties, The Social democrats
(Alþýðuflokkur), The People's Alliance (Alþýðubandalagið) and The
Women's Party (Samtök um kvennalista) in one social-democratic party.
On the other side there were those who fought for the unification of
social-, environmental and feminist politics into one party. These
were to be found in the above mentioned parties, especially in the
Peoples Alliance and the Women's Party and in an open leftwing forum
newly founded, Stefna - a forum for left politics.
This movement joined forces with four MP's from The People's Alliance
and The Women's Party who had the same views and had for some months
formed an independent group within the parliament. In due time a new
political party The Left-Green Movement was founded as a choice to the
left of The Alliance (Samfylkingin).
The cornerstones of it´s policy are the following:
1.
Conservation of the environment
All natural resources shall be public property and utilized
without reducing them and in a careful manner. So-called green
economics must be used to estimate the value of untouched nature and
green taxes shall be applied to encourage protection of the
environment. From our point of view, it is of great importance that
Icelanders can produce all the energy they need in the future. We
reject further building of power plants for the use of polluting large
scale industry and demand conservation of the highland. We emphasize
powerful, international co-operation and conventions concerning
environmental matters.
2.
Equality and social justice
All individuals shall have equal rights and no discrimination
can be tolerated. We demand full equality concerning education, all
social service, public information and freedom of speech. It is the
duty of the Icelandic state to guarantee the welfare of every citizen,
especially the elderly and the disabled.
The Left-Green Movement supports the strenghtening of the rural
areas of Iceland by means of good social service, education,
prosperous culture and various economy. Privatization in public areas
is of great danger in these matters, since it usually leads to a more
expensive service in rural areas.
It is a project of high priority to guarantee that wages paid
for 40 hours' work a week will be sufficient for a normal cost of
living.
3.
Fair and prosperous economy
The Left-Green Movement is willing to strengthen the position of
wage earners to influence the development of our society. The party
is willing to support the development of Icelandic economy to a state
of more diversity and encourage the use of environment-friendly
technology. It is necessary to prevent monopoly and centralization of
capital, enable the conventional industries of Iceland to develop
themselves and make use of Iceland's special status to create jobs of
all kinds for all the inhabitants.
4.
Independent foreign policy
The Left-Green Movement fights for an independent, Icelandic
foreign policy that maintains the sovereignty of Iceland and supports
all means of establishing global peace. The party opposes
participation in military organizations such as NATO and WEU. It also
rejects participation in the European Union and emphasizes simple,
bilateral treaties concerning trade and co-operation.
The Left-Green Movement is willing to strenghten the co-operation of
all nations based on mutual respect for different opinons and
different culture. The party supports and wants to strenghten the
participation in democratical organizations such as the United
Nations, the European Council and the Nordic Council. Iceland shall
support the goals of the UN and the Declaration of Human Rights by
making a contribution to the abolition of poverty and hunger, social
injustice, unequal division of wealth, racial discrimination,
violation of human rights and militarism.
Members of the Left-Green Movement are approximately 3000 by now. The
chairman is Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, MP, and vice-chairman is Katrín
Jakobsdóttir MP. The secretary-general of the party is Drífa Snædal.
The party got 14,3% of votes cast in the elections of May 12th 2007
and has by now 9 representatives in the parliament. They are:Atli
Gíslason, Álfheiður Ingadóttir, Árni Þór Sigurðsson, Jón Bjarnason,
Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir, Steingrímur J. Sigfússon,
Þuríður Backman and Ögmundur Jónasson.
Address:
The Left-Green Movement
Suðurgötu 3
Box 175
121 Reykjavík
ICELAND
Website: www.vg.is
E-mail: v...@vg.is
Tel.: +354 552-8872
Fundamental Policies of the Left-Green Movement
(Vinstrihreyfingin – grænt frambod)
The Left-Green Movement seeks to promote radical social improvements
for the benefit of the public, to promote the respect and protection
of nature and the environment of Iceland and to strengthen rural areas
all over Iceland. The Movement is a forum and campaign tool for those
who wish to eliminate gender discrimination and ensure equal rights,
women’s freedom and increased equality in society.
The Left-Green Movement seeks to develop a democratic and fair society
founded on the active participation of the public. The Movement
rejects the autocracy of capitalism and seeks to protect the
independence of the nation and its sovereignty over its own natural
resources. The Left-Green Movement wishes to resign membership in
military alliances. The Movement places emphasis on positive and
peaceful co-operation with all nations, protecting nature and the
environment of Iceland and ensuring the sustainable development of the
society.
The Left-Green Movement believes that the classic points of emphasis
of the left movement as regards equality and social justice, radical
environmental protection views and demands for sustainable
development, should and must be integrated. Neither can survive on its
own when looking to the future. The standards of living and welfare of
the current generations cannot be based on damaging natural resources
and thus curtailing the rights of the generations that follow. In the
same manner this means that in a sound environmental policy, short-
term interests, consumerism and greed must be replaced by the
protection of the environment and the preservation of natural
resources. The work at hand is to elevate the values of the real
qualities of life and create a society where justice and equality are
in harmony with Nature in its entirety and with Mother Earth.
Fundamental Policies in Immigration Issues
o All persons living in Iceland shall be equal before the law
and, therefore, have the same rights and obligations. Immigrants shall
be shown the same respect as any other resident of Iceland.
o It is impossible to regard matters concerning immigrants as a
delimited subject. Realistic policies in these matters must touch on
most or all fields of politics and be indivisible from overall policy
formulation for the future.
o Immigrants must participate in the development of Icelandic
society in all respects. To this end, mutual adaptation and
integration of immigrants and Icelandic society is necessary.
o Municipalities shall establish multicultural policies and
continue to develop them. All such work must be undertaken in
consultation with immigrants.
Vngelis
Marcus Aurelius
state, inclusive of the communist state,
to further selfish individual or group goals, as "opportunists".
Feminists in the Left-Green movement are clearly counter-revolutionary
"opportunists" as they define and seek equality for women only and
define equality as success and empowerment
for women only as the means and ends of the same, which is the counter-
revolutionary antithesis of "equality."
John Holmes
Er, who else do you want them to seek equality for? Iceland's numerous
racial minorities? I guess there's those Polish foreign workers
about to go back to Poland, but Poles are generally considered to be
white.
Or should they be seeking equality for men as well? As in the old
right-wing bromide about how under socialism all men are equal, but
some are more equal than others?
The "Green-Lefts are clearly not socialists, as is obvious from the
color choice alone, red is the socialist color. And by their program
of course. However they are hardly "counter-revolutionary," if Iceland
has ever had a revolution, this is not well publicized.
-jh-
Vngelis
Kaputhing the bank that collapsed was taken over by Jardine Holdings
previously based in Hong Kong, now based in Bermuda is one of the
principal instigrators of globalisation in particular from the
mid-1990's in attacking unions in docks around the world. It has clear
British connections
How come none of this has appeared once again in the media?
So what is actually going on?
Is Brown using the excuse to not pay public sector salaries?
Quote:
My wife and I, Canadians age 73 and 68 years respectively, live in
Ireland. She has osteoporosis, so a fall means broken bones, and
Ireland has no treacherous snow and ice.
We had our life savings in Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander on the Isle
of Man. We did not put it there because it was a tax haven, indeed we
declared the account to the Irish Revenue service and declared the
interest income from it, but because Kaputhing provided a good service
and allowed us to bank and write cheques in the currencies of the
countries in which our far flung family, children and grandchildren,
live – France, Britain, Ireland, Canada – and to bank the occasional
very small royalty cheque which I still sometimes receive from the
various countries in which I once sold scripts as a television writer
– principally Britain, Canada, USA. These often amount only to a few
pounds or dollars, and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander were almost
unique in not charging to cash these foreign currency cheques. Other
banks would often have charged more than the cheque was worth.
So Kaputhing was a Godsend to us. We have held accounts there for
twenty years, since it was called Jardine Fleming and was owned by the
upright and honest Dutch. Then it became Singer and Friedlander and
then it was bought by Kaupthing. Well, we were pleased because we
thought that if one nation might be more dedicated to hard work and
straight dealing even than the Dutch it must surely be the solidly
reliable Icelanders – sort of Nordic Canadians. How wrong we were. We
did not suspect that in reality you had fewer morals than a bunch of
Somali pirates or Nigerian criminals. Incidentally, while mainland UK
savers with Kaupthing are protected to some extent, those in the Isle
of Man branch have no real protection.
http://www.icenews.is/index.php/2008/10/12/the-guardian-publishes-icel
anders%E2%80%99-stories/#comment-28509
Quote:
The head of Jardine Morgan Holdings Limited, Henry Keswick, is
recognised as one of the "Lords of the English Manner". In fact
Conspiracy theorists would have you believe that Keswick is playing a
major role in the media-management of the globalisation of the world
by the multinationals. A world in which anything goes, for example
Keswick, the Jardine taipan, told the Hong Kong parliament that opium
was no more evil than beer or wine; although when pushed he admitted
that he would not like his own son to smoke it. As late as 1918, the
drug"that old prop and stay of the colony's finances"--represented
46.5 percent of all Hong Kong's government revenues. It was 1945
before opium became illegal in Hong Kong."
http://www.gwb.com.au/gwb/news/298/1904.html
There is also a Scottish and American connection....
Relationship with Jardine Matheson
Quote:
In 1970, Flemings entered into an investment banking joint venture
with Hong Kong based Jardine Matheson, forming Jardine Fleming. The
tie-up was prompted by the long-standing family links between the
Flemings and the Keswick family of Scotland, who have run Jardine
Matheson since its founding.
[edit] Flemings at the end of its days
In 1997, Robert Fleming Holdings had operations in 44 countries in
Asia, Eastern Europe, the Americas and Africa. Its net assets as for
the 1997 fiscal year were £841 million and its profit before tax for
the year was £136.1 million. Its global asset management business
managed £63 billion on behalf of institutional and private investors
around the world. These results included Jardine Fleming, which in its
own right had operations in 15 countries in the Asia-Pacific region,
seats on 20 stock exchanges and some US$19.7 billion in funds under
management. Jardine Fleming’s profit before tax for the year was US
$41.4 million.[2] The firm’s significant transactions included the
privatization of state-owned Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Ltd. in
1994.
Through its history, the firm wore its Scottishness on its sleeve. In
addition to being controlled by the Scottish Fleming family, there
were other signs of its Scots heritage. A bagpipe player regularly
greeted visitors at its London headquarters until 2000. In the 1990s,
its main non-Fleming family backers were Scottish institutions such as
Baillie Gifford and Stewart Ivory. The firm also owned the most
extensive private collection of Scottish art in existence, removed to
an art Foundation, The Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation, created to
protect the art works and prevent any buyers of the failing bank from
selling off the collection.
[edit] Scandal, crisis and restructuring
The Fleming name was tarnished by a scandal in 1996, when Jardine
Fleming was ordered to pay $19 million to fund investors for alleged
abusive and unsupervised securities allocation practices by asset
management head Colin Armstrong. The 1997 Asian crisis severely hit
both Robert Fleming and Jardine Fleming. Robert Fleming was forced to
approve massive lay offs in late 1998. The firm restructured in 1999,
buying the remaining 50% stake in Jardine Flemings in return for
giving Jardine Matheson an 18% stake in Robert Flemings Holdings.
However, despite these efforts, Flemings continued to see its
investment banking and asset management market share decline as global
investment banks like Morgan Stanley and Lazard moved into their
markets.[3]
[edit] Sale to Chase
In April 2000, Robert Flemings Holdings was sold to Chase Manhattan
Bank for $7.7 billion.