Minister of Finance Steingrímur J. Sigfússon says it is natural to grant MPs access to all documents relating to Landsbanki’s Icesave accounts, including drafts and memos. The comment came in response to yesterday’s news that British law firm Mischon de Reya’s report on the matter had not been accessible.
Minister of Finance Steingrímur J. Sigfússon. Photo by Páll Kjartansson.
Sigfússon explained that the government is working on making all documents regarding Icesave accessible; however, the report that Mischon de Reya prepared for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs had only been in the form of memos and considered a half-finished document, Morgunbladid reports.
The report stated that no written confirmation existed that Iceland had formally agreed to take responsibly for the commitments of the Depositors’ Insurance Fund regarding the Icesave deposits, mbl.is reports.
“This legal uncertainty as pointed out by the law firm [Mischon de Reya] is what Iceland maintained the entire time and [Icelandic authorities] tried to have [the fact that Iceland never agreed to take responsibility for the commitments] acknowledged until the last moment but it never was,” Sigfússon told Morgunbladid.
“People must therefore have thought that it didn’t provide any new information,” the minister added by way explanation on why the report hadn’t been made public.
Sigfússon also stated that the state’s Icesave negotiation committee had decided not to obtain further services from Mischon de Reya. The committee was free to hire its own consultants and there were many to choose from, Sigfússon concluded.
The Mischon de Reya report has now been made public in full on island.is.
Click here to read more about Icesave.
