Icelanders agree £3.4 billion in Icesave compensation

by Gill Montia

Story link: Icelanders agree £3.4 billion in Icesave compensation

The Icelandic parliament has sanctioned the repayment of £3.4 billion to authorities in the UK and The Netherlands.

The collapse of Landsbanki in October of 2008 left over 300,000 British savers with the bank’s online Icesave brand their accounts frozen.

The Treasury stepped in with a 100% guarantee for individual savers and stumped up £2.35 billion in compensation.

However, the Bill agreeing the repayment was passed by only three votes, despite its successful passage being central to Iceland’s ambitions to join the EU.

According to reports, the debt relating to the compensation amounts to around €12,000 per Icelander and 40% of the country’s gross domestic product.

The money is scheduled for repayment gradually over the next 14 years.