UK companies locked out of Landsbanki accounts

The fallout from Iceland’s financial crisis continued to hit British business yesterday as companies that bank with Landsbanki, the nationalised Icelandic bank, found that they could not withdraw money from their accounts and Exista, an investment company with close links to Kaupthing, moved to sell-off its assets. An order imposed by the Treasury and the Bank of England on Landsbanki meant that no commercial customers of the Icelandic bank could draw on its banking facilities. Sources close to the Treasury said that the accounts were likely to be unfrozen by Monday. Accountants in the restructuring departments of the Big Four banks said yesterday that they had been inundated with requests for advice from companies that bank with Landsbanki, Kaupthing and Glitnir, which was the first of the Icelandic banks to be nationalised.... [read full story]