Iceland
Ryan Garner
Shelia Waddell
Finance
7 September 2014
Executive Summary
Iceland’s financial misfortune became clear in the fall of 2008 when then global credit market froze. At this time Iceland’s top three banks owed nine times the nation’s total Gross Domestic Product finding themselves abruptly unable to refinance even with new loans. Therefore without being able to back its banks as a lender of last resort the economy of Iceland suffered from the global banking crisis with nationwide bankruptcy inevitable.
The major question brought by the Financial Crisis of 2008 was whether banks were just too large to fail? Iceland’s three largest banks did just that in October 2008. Feeling the influence from the global financial crisis, Glitnir, Landsbanki, and Kaupthing, Iceland’s three largest commercial banks went into bankruptcy and later forced the Government to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In October 2008, these three banks represented 85% of Iceland’s total assets of all the country’s banks. This involved overseas assets which in the long run became too big for the Central Bank of Iceland to rescue ultimately leading the entire nation to being brought down with the banks forcing the government to declare bankruptcy. After, the citizens of Iceland blamed their government of handling the situation wrong, the entire government collapsed in January of 2009.
Iceland’s Finical Crisis of 2008:
Financial crises are not something new to the world, with the economy being effected by crises from time to time and the notion that the most recent one probably will not be the last one to hit the world. Starting in the United States in 2007, the most recent financial crisis developed within the housing market. While in 2006 houses prices peaked they dropped more than 30% in 2007 (Riksrevisionen). It spread across the world and severely damaged the economies of many other countries, reaching its highest level in 2008 when
Shelia Waddell
Finance
7 September 2014
Executive Summary
Iceland’s financial misfortune became clear in the fall of 2008 when then global credit market froze. At this time Iceland’s top three banks owed nine times the nation’s total Gross Domestic Product finding themselves abruptly unable to refinance even with new loans. Therefore without being able to back its banks as a lender of last resort the economy of Iceland suffered from the global banking crisis with nationwide bankruptcy inevitable.
The major question brought by the Financial Crisis of 2008 was whether banks were just too large to fail? Iceland’s three largest banks did just that in October 2008. Feeling the influence from the global financial crisis, Glitnir, Landsbanki, and Kaupthing, Iceland’s three largest commercial banks went into bankruptcy and later forced the Government to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In October 2008, these three banks represented 85% of Iceland’s total assets of all the country’s banks. This involved overseas assets which in the long run became too big for the Central Bank of Iceland to rescue ultimately leading the entire nation to being brought down with the banks forcing the government to declare bankruptcy. After, the citizens of Iceland blamed their government of handling the situation wrong, the entire government collapsed in January of 2009.
Iceland’s Finical Crisis of 2008:
Financial crises are not something new to the world, with the economy being effected by crises from time to time and the notion that the most recent one probably will not be the last one to hit the world. Starting in the United States in 2007, the most recent financial crisis developed within the housing market. While in 2006 houses prices peaked they dropped more than 30% in 2007 (Riksrevisionen). It spread across the world and severely damaged the economies of many other countries, reaching its highest level in 2008 when
Cited: Fantauzzo, Shaun. “On Iceland’s Financial Crisis.” University of Windsor. 2012. Ivester, Eric J., Bradley G OECD (2009). “OECD Economic Survey: Iceland” OECD Volume 2009/16. 29 August 2014. Web. Pierce, Andrew