Icelandic Minister for Economic Affairs Árni Páll Árnason was in a meeting yesterday with the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) where Iceland’s explanation regarding Icesave was discussed.
The minister stated that the funds that are being reclaimed from the bankruptcy estate of Landsbanki, which was responsible for the Icesave deposits, will probably suffice to cover the vast majority of claims made by depositors in the UK and the Netherlands.
This applies both to those who fall under the minimum deposit insurance of EUR 20,887 (ISK 3.4 million, USD 30,000) and other depositors, individuals, charities and municipalities alike, as stated on the ministry’s website.
The prerequisite for these payments is the decision of Althingi, the Icelandic parliament, to make all deposits priority claims to Landsbanki’s bankruptcy estate with the establishment of the emergency law in October 2008.
Already, ISK hundreds of billions are waiting to be repaid from the bank’s estate, which will happen as soon as the Supreme Court of Iceland has sorted out the legal uncertainty surrounding the payment.
In international case proceedings on Icesave, Iceland stresses that the government was in compliance with the law and recognized international regulations on the bankruptcy proceedings of financial companies and that it specifically increased the rights of depositors towards bankruptcy estates with the emergency law in 2008.
That move was the only way to guarantee full payment inat the situation of emergency that was created when the Icelandic banks collapsed and the results from that move are becoming clearer every day, the minister maintained.
In addition to Icesave, Árnason discussed the progress of Iceland’s application for membership to the European Union and the economic situation in Iceland at special two-way meetings with the ministers of a number of states at the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) yesterday.
The same matters were the topic of a meeting with Michel Barnier, the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, as well as improvements of the legal framework and surveillance of financial operations.
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