Iceland's Financial Supervisory Authority said that it had taken control of the Landsbanki Islands hf, while larger rival Kaupthing Bank hf, said the central bank had agreed to lend it €500 million ($678 million).
Separately, Iceland's central bank said that Russia had agreed to lend it €4 billion to inject liquidity into its failing banking system.
The decision to nationalize Landsbanki follows the introduction Monday of a draconian new regulatory regime that allows the state to force asset sales, nationalize assets and fire senior banking management.
The sweeping legislation is aimed at averting the wholesale collapse of the Icelandic banking sector and the potential bankruptcy of the entire country. - Paul Whitfield
Comments
I think we should make Iceland a state so we can use it for military purposes.