Why should Iceland bankers have gone to prison? For taking money from British depositors and investing it in the Spanish housing bubble? Let the British send their bankers to prison.
FT covered the nature of the actual crimes in another article[1]. TD;DR -- Fraud to underwrite loans.
Interestingly, cult comic Doug Stanhope[0] has a pretty large European following and was invited by the former mayor of Reykjavik (also a comic) to essentially hang out. On a podcast, he recounts the tales of him and his long-term life-partner Bingo going to their jails[2]. It's quite a fascinating take as to how humane the jails are, and the liberties given to the convicts. (Sharp bread knives were held by the incarcerated to prepare dinner only tethered by a wire similar to the wires banks use to keep their pens from theft; Bingo said it felt "more like a college dorm than a prison".)
[0] Probably the most poignant alcoholic of our generation, offering insightful, often scathing, critiques on the failings of modern society, while vaguely masking his idealism in the levity of fist fuck jokes. After some sets, one is sat scratching your head - simultaneously sore from the physical pain of excessive laughter and mental pain as you're left ruminating on concepts Kierkegaard himself would categorize as 'angst'
[1] http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6a79df88-1a62-11e5-a130-2e7db721f9...
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0s8M6ZTmL8
There was outright fraud by some Iceland bankers, who indicated they had assets and relationships that did not exist. Issues include:
- Indicating to the ECB and others that they had relationships with strong German banks (when the Iceland bankers showed up at the German banks, the Germans indicated they had never heard of the Iceland banks)
- Engaging in "next-gen Enron-style" corporate asset-liability accounting deceit, such as counting zero-coupon bonds cross-issued with other banks as assets but not as liabilities
- Knowingly accepting billions in bailout funds from the ECB on said fraud
- Failing to acknowledge, take steps to prevent or mitigate damage, at the point when it was undeniable that Icelandic banks could never cover their liabilities
- Paying their executives on quarterly bonuses in spite of horrific losses
That's just a glossy sampling. If it's an interesting topic for you, I strongly recommend the book by my friend Gudrun Johnson, "Bringing Down the Banking System: Lessons from Iceland".
The Report of the Althingy (Icelandic parliament) is one of the most exceptional pieces of literature of our generation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Report_of_the_Investigatio...). It is the source on which Gudrun based her book, and arguably the best post-mortem on an insolvency ever made, or at least since the Amulree Royal Commission on the insolvency of the Dominion of Newfoundland.
"...you have a dog, and I have a cat. We agree that each is worth a billion dollars. You sell me the dog for a billion, and I sell you the cat for a billion. Now we are no longer pet owners but Icelandic banks, with a billion dollars in new assets."
But he still has 24x7 police protection at levels similar to the Royal Family. His house was removed from Google Maps - which seems silly as you just look for the obscured house on the street (why do people do that???).
UK bankers were arguably key to the creation and implosion of the worldwide banking system but are already back to obscene bonus levels and see the taxpayer bailouts as a just reward to ensure their opulent and obscene lifestyles.
I'd happily have my 'Sir' title removed and be left with the money and have police officers guarding me 24x7 to ensure I can enjoy my ill-gotten gains. And if the media tries to publish anything about me, then I can go get a super-injunction to make it illegal to even say I got an injunction ! (http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/mar/10/fred-goodwin...)
NB I remember crossing George Street here in Edinburgh in early 2009, a familiar looking chap waited in his convertible Ferrari for me to cross. A few minutes afterwards I realised why he looked familiar.... quite brave being out in Edinburgh at that time in a convertible - for a lot of reasons not just the weather.
