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£3.7m of Flintshire money frozen after collapse of Landsbanki bank in Iceland
Oct 10 2008 by Ronnie Parry, Flintshire Chronicle
FLINTSHIRE County Council bosses are monitoring the collapse of Icelandic bank Landsbanki after it was revealed the authority has £3.7m invested in it.
Flintshire is one of five Welsh councils with substantial amounts of cash invested in Icelandic banks, which have gone into receivership as the global bank crisis continues to bite.
Flintshire’s senior finance officers are closely monitoring the situation after the UK Government froze all British assets of Landsbanki.
It follows the decision by Iceland’s government to take over the company, which ran the internet bank Icesave, leaving 300,000 UK residential customers unable to access their savings.
The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) said it didn’t expect significant financial problems for local authorities – at least in the short term.
However, the WLGA is monitoring the situation and states councils are clearly concerned at the security of their investments.
It is making direct approaches to the Treasury to get the Chancellor to provide the necessary cover for public sector investments which have been undertaken in accordance with normal practice.
Chancellor Alistair Darling has said he will ensure all UK savers with accounts with the closed internet bank Icesave will get all of their money back.
But the position with corporate investors, such as councils, is less clear.
Flintshire’s assistant director of funds and customer accounts Dave Bamber said: “The council has a £3.7m investment with Landsbanki. We’re clearly concerned at the security of the investment but it’s too early to say whether it’s at risk and we’re monitoring the situation carefully and constantly.”
