You know I have been wanting to visit Iceland and this is no joke, for years now. It has been a dream of mine to ski the slopes of Iceland. I met a crew of Iceland's ski patrol training in Breckenridge Colorado. They were sent to Breckenridge, Colorado because this area was known for their World renown ski patrol. The ski area is owned by Vale Associates. There is no such thing as coincidence. I had been talking to friends about wanting to visit Iceland and then I suddenly meet a group of people from Iceland?!?! WOW! I must mention that this group of people were genuinely kind and most sincere. Just AMAZING human beings! I am grateful to have met them.
Our conversations were NOT shallow by any means. The moment I found out this group was from Iceland I wanted to know... What is it like to live there? What is the government like? Why didn't Iceland want to join the European Union (EU)? How do you view the United States?, etc. I was able to get the skinny from the locals in the Nordic region. Needless to say, we ALL shared the most amazing conversation. In fact, I have been planning a Thanksgiving trip to Iceland for my birthday. Iceland Air is promoting a Thanksgiving feast within a four day stay in Iceland. This was going to be my big treat for the year. I EARNED it. However, it does not sound like a good idea NOW! Plus, I need to be diligent in preserving my money now considering the current state of affairs. Nevertheless, the following information really saddens me.
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Money.co.uk
By Peter Wakeford
Published on 7 Oct 2008
Icesave is no longer allowing customers to withdraw funds - as ministers in Reykjavic, Iceland, rush to shore up the nation's financial services system.
The Icelandic government has attempted to calm savers, worried that the nation's economy might be in meltdown.
Speaking on TV yesterday, Icelandic prime minister Geir Haarde said that the government was to offer a 100 percent guarantee for all domestic bank customers' savings - and that the financial regulator was to be given greater powers to intervene in the financial firms' affairs. Earlier, trading in the nation's banks was suspended.
Thousands of Britons have taken out savings accounts with the popular Icesave and Kaupthing Edge brands - run by Iceland's Landsbanki and Kaupthing banks respectively. However, the worsening of the credit crunch and the decline of investor confidence in banks has hit the Nordic country hard.
This is because Iceland's economy is very dependent on banking, with both giant banks' balance sheets larger than the nation's GDP. Indeed, the banks' sheer size has led to saver scepticism that the government could bail out savers by guaranteeing deposits if either or both firms failed.
"We were faced with the real possibility that the national economy would be sucked into the global banking swell and end in national bankruptcy," Mr Haarde said. "The legislation is necessary to avoid that fate."
To this end, the banks effectively been taken over by the government in order to safeguard domestic savers. UK customers of Icesave, however, are not covered by this guarantee - due to the fact that Kaupthing and Landsbanki are registered in different ways in the UK.
As of this morning the bank is no longer allowing savers to withdraw funds from their accounts. "We are not currently processing any deposits or any withdrawal requests through our Icesave internet accounts," the provider said in a statement on its website.
"We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause our customers. We hope to provide you with more information shortly."
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