Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Iceland shuts stock exchange

Ap
Thursday 09 October 2008 11:41 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

Crisis-hit Iceland suspended trading on its stock exchange until Monday today.

The OMX Nordic Exchange Iceland said the decision was due to "unusual market conditions".

Iceland is sinking deeper into financial turmoil as its top-heavy banking system collapses.

The Icelandic government now has control of all three of the country's major banks - Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir - as it struggles to contain the panic.

The crisis is also hitting several other countries in Europe, where thousands of people have accounts with subsidiaries of the Icelandic banks.

Earlier today Iceland's third largest bank group Kaupthing was taken over by the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority.

The Finnish Financial Supervision agency immediately halted Kaupthing's operations and appointed a supervisor. The Icelandic bank's online bank was not working.

Kaupthing board chairman Sigurdur Einarsson said in a statement that the bank had approached the Icelandic authorities and that the entire board of directors of the bank has resigned.

The move was linked to the knock-on effect of big withdrawals by British depositors from rival banking group Landsbanki's deposit account Icesave in Britain, and the subsequent "significant increase in the outflow of deposits from Kaupthing Edge (Kaupthing's UK online savings arm)" in Britain, he said.

Kaupthing's domestic deposits were "fully guaranteed" and domestic operations were to remain open for business as usual, the Financial Supervisory Authority said adding that the move was to "guarantee a functioning domestic banking system."

The Swedish central bank yesterday approved a £350 million loan to the Swedish branch of Kaupthing, Kaputhing Bank Sverige which said today it would continue its operations with sufficient liquidity.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in