The District Court of Reykjavík has acquitted the three top managers of failed bank Kaupþing of market manipulation, the local news site visir.is reports. Hreiðar Már Sigurðsson, the former CEO of Kaupþing, Sigurður Einarsson, the former chairman of the board of Kaupþing, and Magnús Guðmundsson, the former CEO of Kaupþing Luxembourg, were all acquitted of charges of massive market manipulation in the lead up to the collapse of Kaupþing in the fall of 2008.
Hreiðar Már and Magnús have already been sentenced to the maximum six years in prison for financial crimes. However, the law permits that an individual receive a longer sentence if his criminality is systematic and persistent, or if the defendant made a living from the criminal activity. The prosecutor in the case had argued these conditions applied in this case and requested that both Hreiðar Már and Magnús be sentenced to an additional three years in prison. The defendants, who were acquitted by the District Court of Reykjavík on Tuesday morning, denied any wrongdoing.
Credit Default Swaps and an Emergency Loan from the Central Bank of Iceland
The charges in this case involved, among other things, an emergency loan granted by the Central Bank of Iceland and credit default swaps on Kaupþing. The prosecutor argued that the three defendants had arranged for 70 billion ISK (ca 720 million USD/500 million EUR at the exchange rate at the time) in loans to several large customers of the bank, including investor Ólafur Ólafsson who is currently serving time for his involvement in a separate market manipulation case.
29 bankers sentenced to a combined 80 years in prison
By the latest count, compiled by the business weekly Viðskiptablaðið, 29 bankers, brokers and financiers have been sentenced to a combined 80 years and 5 months in prison for crimes committed in the lead up to the financial crash.
The District Court of Reykjavík has acquitted the three top managers of failed bank Kaupþing of market manipulation, the local news site visir.is reports. Hreiðar Már Sigurðsson, the former CEO of Kaupþing, Sigurður Einarsson, the former chairman of the board of Kaupþing, and Magnús Guðmundsson, the former CEO of Kaupþing Luxembourg, were all acquitted of charges of massive market manipulation in the lead up to the collapse of Kaupþing in the fall of 2008.
Hreiðar Már and Magnús have already been sentenced to the maximum six years in prison for financial crimes. However, the law permits that an individual receive a longer sentence if his criminality is systematic and persistent, or if the defendant made a living from the criminal activity. The prosecutor in the case had argued these conditions applied in this case and requested that both Hreiðar Már and Magnús be sentenced to an additional three years in prison. The defendants, who were acquitted by the District Court of Reykjavík on Tuesday morning, denied any wrongdoing.
Credit Default Swaps and an Emergency Loan from the Central Bank of Iceland
The charges in this case involved, among other things, an emergency loan granted by the Central Bank of Iceland and credit default swaps on Kaupþing. The prosecutor argued that the three defendants had arranged for 70 billion ISK (ca 720 million USD/500 million EUR at the exchange rate at the time) in loans to several large customers of the bank, including investor Ólafur Ólafsson who is currently serving time for his involvement in a separate market manipulation case.
29 bankers sentenced to a combined 80 years in prison
By the latest count, compiled by the business weekly Viðskiptablaðið, 29 bankers, brokers and financiers have been sentenced to a combined 80 years and 5 months in prison for crimes committed in the lead up to the financial crash.
