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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of a hike to Hraunsvatn lake in Öxnadalur valley in north Iceland, which lies at a height of 490 meters, interlocked between two steep mountains and a small glacier with a view of the majestic Hraundrangar peaks.
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Fjallabyggd (“Mountain Settlement”) is a skier’s dream. Its slopes are perfect for slaloming and there are also tracks for telemark skiing. Winter sporting enthusiasts can also go ice skating or rent snowmobiles. In summer, Fjallabyggd turns into a paradise for hikers. Read this special promotion about one of Iceland’s best hidden gems.
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The subsidiary of Iceland’s Glitnir Bank, Glitnir Bank ASA in Norway, was sold for NOK 300 million (USD 42 million, EUR 33 million) on October 21, 2008, or ISK 5.5 billion, but its current worth is estimated at ISK 36.5 billion (USD 281 million, EUR 217 million).
Glitnir headquarters in Reykjavík. Copyright Icelandic Photo Agency.
The bank’s book value has thus increased by ISK 31 billion (USD 239 million, EUR 185 million) in three months, Morgunbladid reports.
Glitnir ASA was bought by 20 savings banks. The takeover was led by Finn Haugan, the managing director of Sparebank 1 SMN that acquired a 25-percent stake in the bank.
According to Morgunbladid, Haugan is also the chairman of the board of the insurance fund of deposit holders in Norway that revoked Glitnir’s loan channel, demanding that the bank be sold.
Haugan said he had not participated in granting the loan channel to Glitnir when it was discussed by the board. “I immediately stepped aside from the board and was not given any information on that process. I don’t know for how long the loan channel was supposed to remain open, but I do know that it was for a limited time.”
According to Morgunbladid, Glitnir in Norway was granted a loan of NOK 5 billion (USD 700 million, EUR 540 million) after the collapse of the banks in Iceland in October 2008 so that it could withstand the crash. Then the loan channel was suddenly revoked after a meeting between the Norwegian central bank, financial supervisory authority and insurance fund.
“The parent bank in Iceland needed to sell Glitnir here in Norway within a certain timeframe that was set by Norwegian authorities,” Haugan said, stating there was nothing wrong with the takeover price. “Anyone could make offers for this bank and several did. This highest offer was [NOK] 300 million.”
Haugan also does not see anything strange about how much the bank’s value has increased in three months. “Because of the problems facing Glitnir it could no longer support the bank in Norway. However, the Norwegian bank was never in trouble and everyone knew that. But since the parent company couldn’t support the subsidiary, the subsidiary had to be sold.”
Glitnir Bank ASA in Norway was re-branded BN Bank on January 1, 2009.
Click here to read more about the acquisition.
Iceland’s cabinet met at the presidential residence Bessastadir at noon today where new ministers were announced: Gudbjartur Hannesson of the Social Democrats will lead a new Welfare Ministry and Ögmundur Jónasson of the Left-Greens a new Ministry for Internal Affairs.
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The average temperature of the three summer months, June, July and August, in Reykjavík this year was 12.2°C (54°F), which makes this the warmest summer in the capital since temperatures were first recorded in 1871, according to meteorologist Trausti Jónsson.
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The comedy sketch show Spaugstofan, which has been shown more or less continuously for 21 years on the Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV, has now been relocated to the private television channel Stöd 2.
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The crew of the sailboat Santa Maria from Hamburg, Germany, called for assistance when they ran out of fuel 140 nautical miles west of Reykjavík last week. The guard post of the Icelandic Maritime Administration contacted ships that were nearby and as it turned out the whaling ship Hvalur 9 was located closest to Santa Maria.
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The second issue of the print edition of Iceland Review 2010 has just been published. Entitled “Under the Volcano” the magazine dedicates 20 pages, words and pictures, to the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull glacier which made headlines all over the word. New subscribers will receive the book 2010 Eruptions as a gift and all subscribers are part of a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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REVIEWS
Dadi Gudbjörnsson's art with its smiley faces, Aladdin's lamps, gleaming hearts, blue mountains and psychedelic flora of unearthly origin reminds me of the cheesy R.E.M. song “Shiny Happy People”. The sugar-sweet naivety fails to amuse me but I must admit it infects my mood with delirious joy.
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Former President of Iceland Vigdís Finnbogadóttir turned 80 on 15 April this year and Mayor Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir—in making her an Honorary Citizen of Reykjavík to mark the occasion—observed that Finnbogadóttir’s life was interwoven with that of Reykjavík. In June 1980 Finnbogadóttir made history when she became the world’s first democratically elected female head of state.
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Today, August 30, and tomorrow is your last chance to visit the exhibition “Eau De Parfum” by Andrea Maack at the Spark Design Space in Reykjavík. In the exhibition space, Maack introduces three perfumes that are the result of her collaboration with French perfumery apf aromes & parfums.
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