Færslan var fyrst birt á Moggabloggi höfundar 21.10.2008.
Samkvæmt frétt á vef Financial Times (www.ft.com) ráðgera bresk stjórnvöld að lána Íslandi 3 milljarða GBP svo hægt verði að endurgreiða Bretum sem áttu innstæður á Icesave innlánsreikningum Landsbankans.
Sagt er að lánið sé mikilvægt skref svo hægt sé að losa um eignir Landsbankans í Englandi, en eins og alþjóð veit voru þær frystar með tilvísun í hryðjuverkalög fyrir 2 vikum. Sagt er að sendinefnd breska fjármálaráðuneytisins og Englandsbanka séu á leiðinni til að "ganga frá málum".
Það virðist vera hluti af samkomulaginu að íslensk stjórnvöld beri ábyrgð á fyrstu 20.887 EUR af innistæðum hvers aðila, en bresk stjórnvöld greiði það sem upp á vantar upp í 50.000 GBP (mismunur upp á 33.811 GBP). Talið er að á breska ríkið falli um 2,4 milljarðar GBP.
Jafnframt er sagt að samkomulagið dekki hvorki innistæður fyrirtækja né opinberra aðila.
Þetta verða að teljast mikil tíðindi og vonandi verður Landsbankinn í framhaldinu tekinn af lista breskra stjórnvalda yfir vafasama aðila og gjaldeyrisviðskipti geta komist í samt horf.
Fréttin í heild er hér:
Treasury plans £3bn loan to Iceland
By David Ibison in Reykjavik
Published: October 21 2008 23:20 | Last updated: October 21 2008 23:20
UK Treasury officials are putting the final touches to a plan to lend about £3bn to Iceland so it can repay UK depositors in Icesave, the online banking unit of Landsbanki, the collapsed Icelandic bank.
The loan would provide an important first step towards unfreezing the deposits of approximately 300,000 UK customers who have been unable to withdraw money after Landsbanki collapsed this month.
A delegation from the UK Treasury and the Bank of England will arrive in Reykjavik, the Icelandic capital, this week to try to “wrap up” the terms of the loan, according to officials in Iceland.
The precise size of the loan has not yet been decided, but it is expected to be about £3bn, representing about 30 per cent of Iceland’s gross domestic product.
A Treasury spokesperson said: “Following conversations between the chancellor [Alistair Darling] and Icelandic prime minister, officials from the Treasury and Bank of England are going to Iceland to work on finalising an agreement that aims to compensate UK depositors and ensure fair treatment for creditors.”
An agreement would help ease tensions significantly between the UK and Iceland after the collapse of its banking system triggered the most damaging diplomatic spat since the cod wars of the 1970s.
Relations deteriorated after the British government used anti- terror legislation to freeze the assets of Landsbanki amid fears the Icelandic government might renege on its commitment to compensate UK depositors.
The proposed loan will mean that the Icelandic government will be able to meet its share of compensation payments, with the remainder covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK compensation scheme.
The Icelandic government is responsible for paying the first €20,887 (£16,189) of any compensation claim while the UK government covers the difference up to £50,000. In this case, the UK government has also agreed to pay any additional claims over the £50,000 limit.
UK taxpayers could face a bill of at least £2.4bn to compensate British holders of accounts at Icesave, it has been estimated.
Any agreement with the Icelandic government will not cover corporate and government account holders in Icesave.
Björgvin Sigurdsson, Iceland’s commerce minister, said an agreement should be concluded by Wednesday.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008