Comments by the Minister of Economic Affairs regarding statements before a Dutch parliamentary committee
Comments given in testimony to a Dutch parliamentary committee by a former official of the Dutch central bank contain grave allegations about the veracity of statements made by Icelandic regulators to their foreign counterparts prior to the collapse of Icelandic banks in the Fall of 2008.
In light of these statements Gylfi Magnusson Minister of Economic Affairs stated the following: „We take such allegations very seriously. One of the tasks before us is to understand whether false or misleading information was presented by the Icelandic banks, regulators and government officials to foreign regulatory agencies in the months leading up to the collapse of the banking system in October 2008.
To this effect a Special Investigation Commission (SIC) was established by Parliament in December of 2008 with a clear mandate to seek the truth relating to the events leading to, and the causes of, the downfall of the Icelandic banks. We hope that the SIC‘s forthcoming report will clear up these matters and deepen our understanding of how all parties involved could have reacted differently.
Parliament is currently debating a new bill of law on financial undertakings which will radically change the regulatory environment. In this new law we will take steps to ensure that the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (FME) and Central Bank have access to more timely and accurate information about our new banks and other financial institutions and much stronger powers to act upon this information when serious problems arise.