The Icelandic pension funds lost approximately ISK 480 billion (USD 3.9 billion, EUR 3.0 billion) in the banking collapse of 2008, a large part of which was due to their investments in Exista and Baugur Group, as revealed in a report presented on Friday.
Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
Around ISK 200 billion were lost when the pension funds’ shares in the Icelandic banks became worthless after the collapse, ISK 100 billion when commercial papers issued by banks and savings banks depreciated, and commercial papers issued by companies whose worth deteriorated explain around ISK 90 billion of the loss, ruv.is reports.
Out of the aforementioned loss of ISK 390 billion, ISK 170 billion were lost through companies connected to the brothers Ágúst and Lýður Guðmundsson, including Kaupþing, Exista and Bakkavör, whereas ISK 80 billion of the amount were lost through companies connected to Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson’s Baugur Group: Glitnir bank, Stoðir (previously FL-Group), Mosaic Fashion and others.
Therefore ruv.is concludes that more than half of the loss the Icelandic pension funds suffered following the banking collapse occurred in connection with the fate of the companies led by the tycoons listed above.
Other losses can be explained by investments in foreign funds and stocks, along with currency trade, among other reasons.
Jón Ásgeir released a statement yesterday rejecting responsibility for the losses of pension funds, although he is sorry that they made losses because of their investments in Baugur, visir.is reports.
A summary of the report in English can be found on the website of the Icelandic pension funds.
ESA
