Archive for the ‘Alistair Darling’ tag
Anti-Terror Law Used in Credit Crises
UK uses anti-terrorist legislation to seize assets of Icelandic banks
The UK government has used a law introduced combat terrorism to freeze £4 billion (US$6.84 billion) of assets of the Icelandic bank, Landsbanki. There is no suggestion that Landsbanki was involved in financing terrorism.
When questioned in Parliament, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms confirmed that the freezing order had been issued under the 2001 Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act, saying, “that’s where the power happened to be.” The act was introduced the in the climate of fear generated by the 9-11 attacks. At the time, there was concern that it was open to abuse.
The Icelandic government had taken control of Landsbanki on Oct 7, taking control of a second bank, Glitnir, the following day. The accounts of some 300,000 UK savers with Icesave, Landsbanki’s online subsidiary, were frozen. The UK had expected Iceland’s depositor compensation scheme to cover UK savers up to £16,000 ($27,340). This would have cost an estimated £2.2 billion ($3.76 billion).
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