British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced at a press conference this morning that they would sue Icelandic authorities to ensure that British customers reclaim their deposits from Icesave, a savings bank located in Britain and owned by Landsbanki Bank.
Darling said he had discussed the situation with Icelandic authorities last night where they had announced that Iceland would not take responsibility for the deposits of Icesave’s customers, ruv.is reports.
Considering the unusual circumstances, British authorities had decided to secure a higher amount on savings accounts than they were obligated to do to make sure that the British public would not suffer because of the economic crisis, Darling said.
Representatives of Landsbanki Bank earlier claimed that the bank’s interest in Iceland and abroad would be protected.
Iceland’s Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde has not yet commented on the announcement of British authorities.
Click here to read about the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (FME) taking over the board of Landsbanki Bank.
