British councils have threatened to sue the winding-up board of the failed Icelandic Glitnir Bank due to concern that GBP 150 million (USD 204 million, EUR 166 million), which the municipalities had deposited to the bank, will not be repaid.
The headquarters of Glitnir, now Íslandsbanki, in Reykjavík. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
According to The Financial Times, these claims are not registered as priority claims. Stephen Jones, director of finance for the Local Government Association, is coming to Reykjavík on Thursday this week to make the case for the councils.
Chairperson of Glitnir’s winding-up board Steinunn Gudbjartsdóttir explained that the reason that the councils’ claims weren’t prioritized is that according to Icelandic law, they are categorized as loans to the bank but not deposits.
The Irish Times reported that the largest claimant to Glitnir’s bankrupt estate, Burlington Loan Management, is owned by three charitable trusts, the Badb Charitable Trust, Eurydice Charitable Trust and Medb Charitable Trust.
These trusts all have directors from the same law firm, Matheson Ormsby Prentice (MOPS). A MOPS spokesman would not comment on this matter when approached by The Irish Times.
Burlington Loan Management has made a claim of ISK 150 billion (USD 1.2 billion, EUR 810 million) to Glitnir, visir.is reports, and both the Icelandic and foreign media has been keen to learn more about its ownership structure and speak with the people involved.
Reuters is among the media outlets which tried in vain to get a comment from a spokesperson of Burlington Loan Management.
Click here to read more about Glitnir, now Íslandsbanki, and here to read about claims made to Landsbanki’s bankruptcy estate.
