City could recoup most of its Icelandic millions (Cambridge Liberal Democrats)

Cambridge Liberal Democrats <camlibdems@gmail.com>

City could recoup most of its Icelandic millions

April 20, 2009 11:51 AM

Cllr Ian Nimmo-Smith

Cambridge City Council leader, Councillor Ian Nimmo-Smith is confident that the city could get back most of the £9 million it invested in Icelandic banks.

Cllr Nimmo-Smith has welcomed the news from administrators that up to 80 per cent of the "lost" millions in one of the banks will be recouped.

The banks were taken over by the authorities in October when the country's financial system collapsed, leaving councils across the UK fearing they had lost their investments.

But now administrators for Heritable Bank, the UK arm of Landsbanki, have indicated its creditors could get most of their money back. This could mean Cambridge could receive up to £7.2 million of its investment eventually.

"This is very welcome news," said Cllr Nimmo-Smith. "We have been working with many other councils of all political persuasions who have been affected by this situation to try to get a satisfactory conclusion.

"Now I am confident that we will get back a significant amount of the money owed to Cambridge, with the first repayments expected in July or August."

Cambridge City Council invested £5 million in Landsbanki Islands hf and £4 million in the Heritable Bank. Both banks were removed from the approved lending list on October 1, 2008 when the banks' ratings were downgraded. The Council last made a deposit with one of these banks in early September 2008.