Berlin - Iceland will return deposits to German, Dutch and
British retail bank customers caught out by the Atlantic nation's
sudden economic collapse, according to German Finance Minister Peer
Steinbrueck.
They had placed money with Kaupthing, a major Icelandic bank that
offered high rates of interest.
As quoted Sunday by the German newspaper Tagesspiegel am Sonntag,
Steinbrueck said a solution had been found, together with the
Netherlands and Britain, so that they would receive back the full sum
invested.
The Germans had invested 308 million euros (385 million dollars)
in Kaupthing.
The minister said Germany would assist the Icelandic deposit
assurance fund to refund the money, with the foreigners treated the
same as Icelandic citizens.
Germany's banking regulator BaFin froze Kaupthing's retail
operations in October, saying the moratorium was aimed at keeping
assets in Germany after the Kaupthing head office in Iceland blocked
customers' online access to accounts.
BaFin says the bank had 30,800 customers in Germany.
Maureen, British ExpatNov 23rd, 2008 - 20:28:56
Please could you tell us if Iceland are honouring savers' deposits in the Isle of Man subsidiary of Kaupthing? Predominantly we are British savers living overseas, but there are some non-British customers too, who stand to lose their savings.
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