The Landsbanki Freezing Order 2008 (later amended) is an Order of
HM Treasury to freeze the assets of
Icelandic bank
Landsbanki in the United Kingdom made under the
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, by virtue of the fact that the Treasury reasonably believed that "action to the detriment of the United Kingdom's economy (or part of it) has been or is likely to be taken by a person or persons." As required by the enabling Act, the Order was approved by both Houses of Parliament on 28 October 2008, which was 20 days after the Order had come into force.
The Order was made after Landsbanki was placed into
receivership in Iceland. The bank offered online accounts under the trade name
Icesave: some 300,000 depositors in the UK had deposits worth about £4 billion when the bank collapsed.
In a memorandum to the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments,
Memorandum from HM Treasury to the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments
(20 October 2008). the Treasury stated that "the primary concern was to prohibit the flow of funds held or controlled by Landsbanki's UK branch out of the UK and back to Iceland." The same document also mentioned other reasons for making the order, namely that "the emergency legislation passed in Iceland on 7th October 2008 meant that UK creditors' rights could be prejudiced compared with other creditors" and that "the Icelandic action was likely to have a particularly significant unsettling effect on consumer confidence at a time of unprecedented disturbance of the financial sector."
See also
* 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis
The Icelandic financial crisis was a major economic and political event in Iceland that involved the default of all three of the country's major privately owned commercial banks in late 2008, following their difficulties in refinancing their ...
* Icesave dispute
References
{{UK-law-stub
Statutory Instruments of the United Kingdom
2008 in British law
2008 in economics
Great Recession in Europe
Iceland–United Kingdom relations