Landsbanki – a firm foundation?

According to the leading Swedish industrial daily magazine “Dagens Industri” The Icelandic financial institutions Kaupthing Bank, Exista, Glitnir Bank, Landsbanki Island, Straumur-Burdaras Investment Bank och Sparisjodur Reykavikur were moved to the so called “observation list” earlier today (Monday).

The reason for this is said to be “substantial insecurity over the pricing of the shares in these banks” This means that the trading with these shares are being stopped.
Iceland's Financial Services Authority requested the move.
The OMX Nordic Exchange in Iceland said "This decision is made in order to safeguard the equality of investors while awaiting an announcement.''

Iceland's prime minister Geir Haarde has confirmed the country's major banks have agreed to "sell their foreign assets and decrease their activity abroad", as pressure mounted for the government to secure a rescue deal for its ailing financial system.

At a midnight press conference last night, he said no decisions about an economic bail-out had been made "at this time". He then convened all Icelandic MPs at the parliament building to discuss more options into the early hours of the morning.

Before the prime minister spoke last night, Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson, who with his father - West Ham owner Björgolfur Guðmundsson's - owns 40pc of Landsbanki, left with two top ranking Kaupthing officials. None was prepared to comment, but Landsbanki is thought as the only player having the economic muscle to buy the newly nationalized Glitnir bank.

Both Landsbanki and Straumur-Burdaras Investment Bank are, as the Bubbleview reader already know, major parts of Björgolfur Guðmundsson's economic foundation. The board was last week reassured by BG that the Club's finances will not be affected by Iceland's troubled banking sector.

This is less and less reassuring to me.

Thanks to http://siggisig.blog.is/.