Were the government aware of problems in Iceland back in April?
As the situation in Iceland appears to be coming a little clearer there have been suggestions that the UK government were concerned about the financial system in the country as long ago as April this year. However, despite rumoured concerns within government and the Bank of England no warning was passed to local authorities, business or the financial world and taxpayer's funds were readily deposited with Icelandic banks.
Surely if a government which had concerns, no matter how small they were, about the financial strength of a country which was holding in excess of £1 billion of UK funds they should have made an effort to reduce the country's exposure as a whole. We are now in the situation whereby the Icelandic authorities are unable to honour deposits with their banks and have literally had to go cap hand to a whole host of countries and organisations around the world.
While there are hopes that some UK deposits will be honoured, in a short-term there are still literally hundreds of millions of pounds left unprotected and possibly lost forever. Whether the credit agencies or even government advisers have serious questions to answer is something which will no doubt come out over the coming months.
Share this..
Related stories
Will investment markets ever be the same again?
While we have been through many recessions and boom times in the UK and bounced back fairly quickly from the majority of them, there is a feeling that the scars left this time will take longer to heal. We have seen well known companies go out of business, we have seen banking systems collapse and over the next few months we will see a massive increase in the number of personal bankruptcies in the...
Read MoreWill we ever find a suitable regulatory system for the UK?
As the government issues yet another revamp of the UK regulatory system for financial markets there are serious concerns that the government's strategy is more short-term than long-term. By creating increased friction between the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA), as well as bringing the Treasury in to oversee the system, there are great fears of turf wars within the regul...
Read MoreWill Inflation Hit 5% By The End Of September?
As officials get ready to release inflation data for July this week, many experts are forecasting a rise to 4.1% from 3.8% in June. However, while this is bad news in itself it seems inevitable that it will get much worse in the short term. Many economists are looking to inflation to rise above 5% in September as the increase in energy bills only just starts to hit home. This will not only prom...
Read MoreLloyd's TSB appoint new retail division director
Bosses at Lloyds TSB have announced that finance director Helen Weir is moving to head up the banks retail division. Helen Weir, 45, was offered the position after previous Lloyds TSB retail director Terri Dial, left the company to become chief executive of Citi Bank consumer banking division. Industry insiders predict the move could be the ideal stepping stone for Weir who is thought to be the...
Read MoreWhy is the FSA backtracking on recent promises?
The FSA (Financial Services Authority) has today confirmed that regulations which were to be introduced in November to control remuneration and bonus packages in the financial services industry have been delayed until 1 January 2010. In a definite sign that the regulators are backtracking on recent promises and watering down new rules and regulations, many people are asking why after such vocal su...
Read More