It is a year since the Icelandic banks failed and neither the British nor the Icelandic government have told the whole story of how and why they fell.

“How could a bank apparently be well financed last summer and then go bankrupt in autumn?” asked a big client of one of the Icelandic banks when I spoke to him recently. The short answer is that banking is an elusive business based on trust – and trust was in short supply when the three Icelandic banks, Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir, failed last October.

The long answer as to why the three Icelandic banks collapsed so spectacularly will hopefully be answered in a forthcoming report by an Icelandic parliamentary commission. The word is already out that the saga will be a sinister one. An office of a special prosecutor set up in Iceland to deal with alleged fraud related to the banks underlines this message. This new Icelandic saga has a UK ramification: the prosecutor now co-operates with the Serious Fraud Office. However, the UK authorities have never clarified their action against the Icelandic banks a year ago.  07-Oct-09.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/6270160/One-year-on-questions-about-Icelands-banking-collapse-still-remain.html