The purchase of a 30% stake in the Icelandic bank Arion by a team of international investment funds led by Goldman Sachs has been met with criticism from the general public, the customers of Arion bank as well as politicians. The director of a small independent credit union in North Iceland told the local news site Vísir that he had seen a dramatic increase in new customers since the purchase was announced.
Read more: Goldman Sachs and three investment funds acquire 30% stake in Icelandic bank Arion
On Sunday the three investment funds, Attestor Capital LLP, Taconic Capital Advisors UK LLP, Sculptor Investments s.a.r.l. which is connected to Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, and Goldman Sachs International announced they had purchased a 30% stake in Arion, as well as securing an option to purchase an additional 21.9% stake in the bank.
Icelanders deserve better
The purchase set off an intense debate in Iceland about whether it was appropriate that an Icelandic bank was owned by foreign hedge funds and investors like Goldman Sachs, which is closely associated with the excesses which brought about the 2008 financial crash. The collapse of the Icelandic banks in the fall of 2008 brought about a massive recession and economic hardship which Icelanders have not forgotten.
While the Prime Minister of Iceland Bjarni Benediktsson, the chairman of the conservative Independence Party, celebrated the investment other political leaders and MPs expressed greater skepticism or outright opposition. One MP for the centrist Bright Future, which forms a part of the ruling center-right coalition, said the Icelandic nation deserved better. The chairwoman of the opposition Left-Green Movement Katrín Jakobsdóttir told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that the Icelandic public should be informed about who was really behind the purchase. Especially when we keep in mind the historical precedent and the lead up to the 2008 financial collapse. I think we need to be vigilant.
Aren't all bank owners evil capitalists?
Some customers of Arion have also closed down their accounts in protest. Kristinn Hrafnsson, a former Wikileaks activist, posted on Facebook that he had moved his banking to the Sparisjóður Strandamanna Credit Union.
Others have questioned the point of moving their business, including the leftist intellectual and historian Stefán Pálsson who wondered on Facebook whether there was much difference between bankers: Aren't all bank owners evil capitalists by definition?
The purchase of a 30% stake in the Icelandic bank Arion by a team of international investment funds led by Goldman Sachs has been met with criticism from the general public, the customers of Arion bank as well as politicians. The director of a small independent credit union in North Iceland told the local news site Vísir that he had seen a dramatic increase in new customers since the purchase was announced.
Read more: Goldman Sachs and three investment funds acquire 30% stake in Icelandic bank Arion
On Sunday the three investment funds, Attestor Capital LLP, Taconic Capital Advisors UK LLP, Sculptor Investments s.a.r.l. which is connected to Och-Ziff Capital Management Group, and Goldman Sachs International announced they had purchased a 30% stake in Arion, as well as securing an option to purchase an additional 21.9% stake in the bank.
Icelanders deserve better
The purchase set off an intense debate in Iceland about whether it was appropriate that an Icelandic bank was owned by foreign hedge funds and investors like Goldman Sachs, which is closely associated with the excesses which brought about the 2008 financial crash. The collapse of the Icelandic banks in the fall of 2008 brought about a massive recession and economic hardship which Icelanders have not forgotten.
While the Prime Minister of Iceland Bjarni Benediktsson, the chairman of the conservative Independence Party, celebrated the investment other political leaders and MPs expressed greater skepticism or outright opposition. One MP for the centrist Bright Future, which forms a part of the ruling center-right coalition, said the Icelandic nation deserved better. The chairwoman of the opposition Left-Green Movement Katrín Jakobsdóttir told the local newspaper Morgunblaðið that the Icelandic public should be informed about who was really behind the purchase. Especially when we keep in mind the historical precedent and the lead up to the 2008 financial collapse. I think we need to be vigilant.
Aren't all bank owners evil capitalists?
Some customers of Arion have also closed down their accounts in protest. Kristinn Hrafnsson, a former Wikileaks activist, posted on Facebook that he had moved his banking to the Sparisjóður Strandamanna Credit Union.
Others have questioned the point of moving their business, including the leftist intellectual and historian Stefán Pálsson who wondered on Facebook whether there was much difference between bankers: Aren't all bank owners evil capitalists by definition?
