Iceland jails former Kaupthing bank bosses

[ajareselde]

Source:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-25349240



Four former bosses from the Icelandic bank Kaupthing have been sentenced to between three and five years in prison.

They are the former chief executive, the chairman of the board, one of the majority owners and the chief executive of the Luxembourg branch.

They were accused of hiding the fact that a Qatari investor bought a stake in the firm with money lent - illegally - by the bank itself.

Kaupthing collapsed in 2008 under the weight of huge debts.

For years, Kaupthing and other Icelandic banks had aggressively pursued overseas expansion plans, but when they went into administration, they brought the country's economy to its knees.

Just a few weeks before the collapse, Kaupthing announced that Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Bin Hamad al-Thani had bought a 5.1% stake during the financial crisis in 2008.

The move was seen as a confidence boost for the bank.
--



The war on banks has begun. I just hope more countrys follow this great example.

[pattu1]

The war on banks has begun. I just hope more countrys follow this great example.

Tough to see it happening in countries where banks have a lot of influence on politicians.
A great start, nevertheless.

[bitgeek]

Nicely done. Iceland has shown independency during their debt crisis. A small, but stubborn country that has shown the rest of the world how to deal with bullies.

[ajareselde]

Nicely done. Iceland has shown independency during their debt crisis. A small, but stubborn country that has shown the rest of the world how to deal with bullies.

Do u think someone else is going to follow their example, i sure hope so. I was reading in the past that this isnt their forst attack on bankers.
They sure did recognize their worst enemy of the people and the economy. Stubborn, maybe, but they have my respect :]

[Slark]

Do you realize that Iceland is only populated by little over 300.000 of people? It it easier to govern 300.000 people that 300.000.000 country. Also people tend to be less corrupted in smaller communities. I bet in USA big money can buy you freedom in almost every case. Most people who should be in jail are holding the position of power... How can we change it?

[ajareselde]

Do you realize that Iceland is only populated by little over 300.000 of people? It it easier to govern 300.000 people that 300.000.000 country. Also people tend to be less corrupted in smaller communities. I bet in USA big money can buy you freedom in almost every case. Most people who should be in jail are holding the position of power... How can we change it?

So whats your answer? Just bow down and do nothing? There are allways ways to fight injustice. What we have today is nothing more than a modern version of slavery, and all slavery
was fought and eliminated in history , and so will this one, it just takes enough people to create critical mass.
Imagine if all black slaves thought same like you, where would they be? and where are they now; on the president seat of one of the most powerful country..

[Chef Ramsay]

If this were possible in the United States you could probably fill up entire facilities of prisons here. It would be absolutely laughable with what these guys have and continually get away with, if it wasn't so tragic.

[u9y42]

Do you realize that Iceland is only populated by little over 300.000 of people? It it easier to govern 300.000 people that 300.000.000 country. Also people tend to be less corrupted in smaller communities. I bet in USA big money can buy you freedom in almost every case. Most people who should be in jail are holding the position of power... How can we change it?

The way I see it, moving to remove or reform money in politics, would be a step in the right direction - that is, by greatly lessening or entirely removing the overwhelming influence large concentrations of power have over the political system, perhaps replacing it with public financing instead, as happens in many other countries. Now, that is certainly not a magic bullet to solve all problems in society, but I think it would make further changes in the interest of the majority of the people far easier.

I have often posted this, but here it goes again: there are already several groups seeking to do something along those lines - the guys at The Young Turks with Wolf-PAC (http://www.wolf-pac.com), and Larry Lessig with Mayday PAC, to name a few.

[pattu1]

If this were possible in the United States you could probably fill up entire facilities of prisons here. It would be absolutely laughable with what these guys have and continually get away with, if it wasn't so tragic.

If what I have seen in the movie Wolf of Wall Street is any indication (it is supposed to be based on a true story, isn't it?), bankers in the US have nothing to worry.  

[Chef Ramsay]

If this were possible in the United States you could probably fill up entire facilities of prisons here. It would be absolutely laughable with what these guys have and continually get away with, if it wasn't so tragic.

If what I have seen in the movie Wolf of Wall Street is any indication (it is supposed to be based on a true story, isn't it?), bankers in the US have nothing to worry.  

The interesting thing is that it's been proven through the bankers' movements/crimes that they can do no harm and are out of the bounds of the arresting parties. Why is that? This network is entrenched and lobbied in the highest parts of government. The pathetic representatives, that supposedly rep the people, are bought and paid for and have long abandoned the average person. Here we are yet I'm willing to be proven otherwise.

[Divinespark]

About time. The Icelandic banks really lost it at one point and plunged the entire nation into chaos.
Banksters

[grendel25]

I hope that catches on here in the states.  Bankers think they are untouchable and get away with awful things.

[pattu1]

If this were possible in the United States you could probably fill up entire facilities of prisons here. It would be absolutely laughable with what these guys have and continually get away with, if it wasn't so tragic.

If what I have seen in the movie Wolf of Wall Street is any indication (it is supposed to be based on a true story, isn't it?), bankers in the US have nothing to worry.  

The interesting thing is that it's been proven through the bankers' movements/crimes that they can do no harm and are out of the bounds of the arresting parties. Why is that? This network is entrenched and lobbied in the highest parts of government. The pathetic representatives, that supposedly rep the people, are bought and paid for and have long abandoned the average person. Here we are yet I'm willing to be proven otherwise.

Found this on the net (little dated but serves the purpose). The bankers are really well entrenched. 
https://prof77.wordpress.com/politics/an-updated-list-of-goldman-sachs-ties-to-the-obama-government-including-elena-kagan/

[ajareselde]

If this were possible in the United States you could probably fill up entire facilities of prisons here. It would be absolutely laughable with what these guys have and continually get away with, if it wasn't so tragic.

If what I have seen in the movie Wolf of Wall Street is any indication (it is supposed to be based on a true story, isn't it?), bankers in the US have nothing to worry.  

The interesting thing is that it's been proven through the bankers' movements/crimes that they can do no harm and are out of the bounds of the arresting parties. Why is that? This network is entrenched and lobbied in the highest parts of government. The pathetic representatives, that supposedly rep the people, are bought and paid for and have long abandoned the average person. Here we are yet I'm willing to be proven otherwise.

Found this on the net (little dated but serves the purpose). The bankers are really well entrenched. 
https://prof77.wordpress.com/politics/an-updated-list-of-goldman-sachs-ties-to-the-obama-government-including-elena-kagan/

Yes, and with every new day it becomes more and more obvious that one thing goes with the other, they're protecting themselves, and once again get a chance to rip-off little guy.
There is 0 chance of democracy here, and the only way to stop this is to fight them any way we can. Cutting banking fees and charges by adopting bitcoin is just one of them.

cheers

[Snail2]

The war on banks has begun. I just hope more countrys follow this great example.

Good start. I hope we can see much more similar cases with more serious penalties if justifiable.