Iceland government falls

[Magda Hassan]

Maybe the banks strike again in Iceland with the current PM about to lose his job as the country riots demanding he explain and go.

Iceland's prime minister is this week expected to face calls in parliament for a snap election after the Panama Papers revealed he is among several leading politicians around the world with links to secretive companies in offshore tax havens.

The financial affairs of Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson and his wife have come under scrutiny because of details revealed in documents from a Panamanian law firm that helps clients protect their wealth in secretive offshore tax regimes. The files from Mossack Fonseca form the biggest ever data leak to journalists.
Opposition leaders have this weekend been discussing a motion calling for a general election in effect a confidence vote in the prime minister.
On Monday, Gunnlaugsson is expected to face allegations from opponents that he has hidden a major financial conflict of interest from voters ever since he was elected an MP seven years ago.
The former prime minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir said Gunnlaugsson would have to resign if he could not regain public trust quickly, calling on him to "give a straightforward account of all the facts of the matter".
The former finance minister Steingrímur Sigfússon told the Guardian: "We can't permit this. Iceland would simply look like a banana republic. No one is saying he used his position as prime minister to help this offshore company, but the fact is you shouldn't leave yourself open to a conflict of interest. And nor should you keep it secret."
Leaked papers show Gunnlaugsson co-owned a company called Wintris Inc, set up in 2007 on the Caribbean island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, to hold investments with his wealthy partner, later wife, Anna Sigurlaug Pálsdóttir.
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The Caribbean island of Tortola, where Wintris was set up. Photograph: Christian Wheatley/Getty Images The couple were living in the UK at the time and had been advised to set up a company in the tax haven in order to hold and invest substantial proceeds from the sale of Pálsdóttir's share in her family's business back in Iceland.
Gunnlaugsson owned a 50% stake in Wintris for more than two years, then transferred it to Pálsdóttir, who held the other 50%, for one dollar. The prime minister's office now says his shareholding was an error and "it had always been clear to both of them that the prime minister's wife owned the assets". Once drawn to the couple's attention in late 2009, the error was corrected.
Towards the end of Gunnlaugsson's time as a Wintris shareholder, having returned to Iceland, he was elected to parliament as leader of the Progressive party.
Gunnlaugsson, who became prime minister four years later, never disclosed his Wintris shares on Iceland's parliamentary register of MPs' financial interests.
Nor has he spoken about the offshore company publicly until questioned by the Guardian and other media working in conjunction with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
When first asked if he had ever owned an offshore company, Gunnlaugsson said: "Myself? No. Well, the Icelandic companies I have worked with had connections with offshore companies … but I can confirm I have never hidden any of my assets."
Asked what he knew about Wintris, he initially said: "Well, it's a company, if I recall correctly, which is associated with one of the companies that I was on the board of." Shortly afterwards, Gunnlaugsson ended the interview.

Public statements

The prime minister and his wife then rushed out separate public statements in Icelandic condemning reporters' intrusions into their private business matters.
Both stressed their financial interests had always been properly disclosed to the Icelandic tax authorities. The Guardian has seen no evidence to suggest tax avoidance, evasion or any dishonest financial gain on the part of Gunnlaugsson, Pálsdóttir or Wintris.
The prime minister now accepts he did jointly own Wintris with his wife. Copies of the share certificate in his name and of Wintris's share register are published today by the Guardian.
He nevertheless insists he did not have to declare his shares on the parliamentary register because Wintris was a holding company, not a "commercial company".
He was elected to parliament in April 2009 and did not transfer his Wintris shares to Pálsdóttir until the last day of that year. A copy of the transfer agreement is published here.
Asked if he had nevertheless breached the spirit of the disclosure rules, the prime minister declined to reply. He conceded there might be a case for tightening the rulebook.
Leaked Wintris documents show in detail the layers of complexity associated with such BVI companies, masking the identity of those in charge.
They also raise uncomfortable questions about how Gunnlaugsson could have remained unaware for more than two years that he was the owner of 50% of Wintris and its considerable investments.
The instruction to set up Wintris first came through agents in Luxembourg, who contacted Mossack Fonseca, an international law firm specialising in offshore secrecy. A registered office was set up in the BVI and three nominee directors recruited from Panama.

Power of attorney

Names of the Panamanian directors appear on almost all of the company's official paperwork for the first three years, but it was Gunnlaugsson and Pálsdóttir who held the authority to control the firm, having privately been granted power of attorney over Wintris's affairs.
Five months after it was set up, the company also made arrangements to open a bank account at a London branch of Credit Suisse. By then, the involvement of Gunnlaugsson and Pálsdóttir in the activities of Wintris was well hidden from the public gaze.
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A woman leaves a branch of Iceland's second largest bank, Landsbanki, in October 2008, a day after the state officially announced it had nationalised it. Photograph: Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images Later that year, Iceland became one of the most severe casualties of the global credit crisis. Financial meltdown meant the country was forced to seek bailout loans and impose currency controls as foreign investors rushed to sell out of the rapidly devaluing Icelandic króna.
While Wintris was shielded from some of this turmoil, it had invested in bonds issued by three Icelandic banks and was owed more than 500m Icelandic króna (£2.8m) when they all collapsed. Only a small fraction of that sum is likely to be recovered.
Revelations from the Panama Papers about Gunnlaugsson and Pálsdóttir's offshore activities are awkward for Iceland's prime minister, who has made a name for himself defending the collapse of his country's financial system against the demands of foreign creditors, whom he has repeatedly characterised as "vultures".
He has dismissed suggestions that his wife's ownership of Wintris compromised him as prime minister. On the contrary, he suggested, his consistently tough approach to foreign creditors, including Wintris, demonstrated that his wife's financial interests had never affected his decision-making.

Icelanders' suspicions

For some years many ordinary Icelanders have grown suspicious about wealthy Icelanders and their use of offshore companies, concerned such arrangements are designed to avoid tax.
To pursue investigations in this area, Iceland's tax office last year paid a whistleblower for a cache of data from Mossack Fonseca's regional office in Luxembourg. As a result, tax inspectors are said to have in their hands the private details of up to 400 Icelanders with interests in tax havens.
There is no suggestion of tax avoidance in the case of Wintris, but the prime minister said he and his wife had "always assumed" the whistleblower data could include information on Wintris. He said he supported the tax office's ongoing inquiries.
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Iceland's finance minister, Bjarni Benediktsson. Photograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images A rebellion against the prime minister in parliament on Monday may depend in part on the position taken by his partners in coalition government, led by the finance minister, Bjarni Benediktsson.
But Benediktsson's name also appears in the Panama Papers as he previously owned a third of a company called Falson & Co, incorporated in the Seychelles. Benediktsson's interest in Falson was held through bearer share certificates, which do not record the name of the owner.

He told the Guardian the company had been set up with two co-investors to buy a property in Dubai, but the deal had fallen through in 2009 and he had had no dealings with the company since.
In a television interview last year, Benediktsson was asked if he had ever done business in tax havens. "No, I haven't done that," he said. "I have not had any assets in tax havens not done anything like that."
Asked why he had not mentioned Falson, Benediktsson said he had not realised it was based in the Seychelles. He had thought it was in Luxembourg.
Panama Papers reporting team: Juliette Garside, Luke Harding, Holly Watt, David Pegg, Helena Bengtsson, Simon Bowers, Owen Gibson and Nick Hopkins

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr...are_btn_tw

[Magda Hassan]

The streets are being scrubbed in preparation of the massive protests soon to happen in Reykjavik. Live streaming in about 3 hours time at this link

[Magda Hassan]

Looks like all of Iceland is turning out to demand his resignation. He has said he is not going and has done nothing wrong.

This is interesting too. I expect that it has been arranged months ago but timing....

US sends F-15 fighter jets to Iceland and the Netherlands following huge military drills carried out by Russia

• The U.S. is deploying 12 F-15C Eagles and approximately 350 airmen to Iceland and the Netherlands
  
• Iceland is the only country in NATO that does not have a military
  
• The F-15s are part of the U.S.'s Theater Security Packages, a rotational force used to augment existing Air Force capabilities in Europe
  
• The aircraft are scheduled to remain in Europe through September
  

By Dailymail.com Reporter
Published: 08:11 EST, 3 April 2016 | Updated: 18:36 EST, 4 April 2016

[URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3520854/US-sends-F-15-fighter-jets-Iceland-Netherlands-following-huge-military-drills-carried-Russia.html#comments"] 64
View comments
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The United States has deployed 12 F-15C Eagle fighter jets and and approximately 350 airmen to Iceland and the Netherlands.
The Air Force announced that the U.S. aircraft came from the 131st Fighter Squadron at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts and the 194th Fighter Squadron at Fresno Air National Guard Base in California.
Their mission will be support NATO air surveillance missions in Iceland and conduct flying training in the Netherlands.
+4


Team America: A small group of U.S. F-15 fighter jets (pictured) have travelled to Icland and The Netherlands to carry out military exercises

According to CNN, the F-15 fighter jets are part of several deployments of American fighters being sent to Europe in an effort to deter further Russian aggression in the region.
In February, the U.S. said it will send six F-15s to Finland as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which the United States initiated in 2014 to reassure NATO allies after Russian military intervention in Ukraine. These aircraft are scheduled to deploy next month.
Although it maintains a small coast guard force, Iceland is the only country in NATO that does not have a military.
The U.S. used to have an air base in Iceland during the Cold War when Iceland sat at a key strategic location in the middle of the Atlantic, but the base was closed in 2006.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...ussia.html

[Magda Hassan]

Well, the PM resigned. He spent all day yesterday saying he wouldn't but has now asked the President to call a snap election. It is still very confusing there though and it shifts all over the place.

[Peter Lemkin]

Panama Papers: Could Pirate Party 'poetician' Birgitta Jonsdottir be Iceland's next PM?

Date April 7, 2016 - 12:13AM

Nick Miller http://www.smh.com.au/world/panama-paper...nzcjr.html

Birgitta Jonsdottir campaign video

Ex Mullumbimby and Melbourne resident Birgitta Jonsdottir publishes a video promoting her Pirate Party election platform in Iceland.

• Iceland's PM becomes first casualty of Panama Papers
  

London: Birgitta Jonsdottir, ex Mullumbimby and Melbourne resident, former colleague of Julian Assange, now official 'poetician' for Iceland's Pirate Party, admits with some surprise that she might be her country's next prime minister.
"Statistically, that's very possible," she says. "But then, that is not my main goal."
Former Australian resident and possibly Iceland's next prime minister, Birgitta Jonsdottir. Photo: Getty Images

Ms Jonsdottir is tired after one of the most extraordinary days in modern Icelandic politics a day the Panama Papers leaks claimed their first victim.
Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson on Tuesday announced a 'non-resignation' insisting in a statement that he had not resigned, but had just "suggested … that the Progressive Party vice chairman take over the office of prime minister for an unspecified amount of time".
It followed a tumultuous 24 hours, which had seen the tiny island's biggest-ever public political protest, with thousands in the streets.
Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson leaves after holding a meeting at Iceland's Parliament in Reykjavik, on Tuesday. Photo: APTN/AP

The Panama Papers leaks revealed Mr Gunnlaugsson had owned an offshore company with his wife, that he had not declared when entering parliament.
He was accused of concealing millions of dollars of family assets in a tax-minimising structure.
A statement issued by the prime minister's office said he and his wife "have never sought to hide these [offshore] assets from Icelandic tax authorities… and taxes have been paid accordingly in Iceland".
Forced to resign after Panama Papers revelations: Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson. Photo: Bloomberg

"Even The Guardian and other media covering the story have confirmed that they have not seen any evidence to suggest that the prime minister, his wife or [their company] Wintris engaged in any actions involving tax avoidance, tax evasion, or any dishonest financial gain," the statement said.
In response to the protests, Mr Gunnlaugsson on Tuesday asked the country's president to dissolve parliament and call an early election.
But in an almost unheard-of move, the president refused the advice of the prime minister, saying he wanted to consult with the rest of the coalition.
People protest in front of Iceland's Parliament in Reykjavik on Tuesday after the leak of millions of records on offshore accounts claimed its first high profile victim, the country's prime minister. Photo: AP

Ms Jonsdottir, a member of parliament for the Iceland's Pirate Party, says Mr Gunnlaugsson had taken his colleagues by surprise with his visit to the president.
"He had not consulted with anybody and they were like so pissed off," she said. "They did not conceal it, they were just seething."
They had then forced him to resign, she says.
People protest in Reykjavik on Tuesday amid outrage over revelations Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson used a shell company to conceal a conflict of interest. Photo: AP

"It's been a really long day… this whole day was totally bizarre in so many different ways."
If there was to be an election Ms Jonsdottir as her party's current leading spokesperson could end up prime minister.
Despite only having three MPs out of 63 in the Althingi, a year ago this group of activists, poets and hackers took the lead in the polls as the favourite party for a third of voters.
A picture mimicking Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson near the Icelandic Parliament building in downtown Reykjavik. Photo: Getty Images

In the most recent Gallup poll last week, the Pirates stood to gain 36 per cent of the vote, making it more popular than the two government parties (Independence and Progressive) put together.
"It is very possible that the Pirate Party will be a large party if there are snap elections this year," Ms Jonsdottir said.
"But like we've seen today, one day in politics can be very eventful and things can turn around very quickly.
"Like I always say, it's birds in the woods and I don't want to count them until I have some in my hands, which would be the results of elections."
She says she and her colleagues are still surprised by the popularity of their party "it's the big riddle we're always trying to solve".
"It's not only because we are a party that has not been a part of government, I think it is also because people sense that we present changes that revolve around changing the systems, rather than changing minor things that might easily be changed back, which seems to be the pattern of modern politics."
Icelanders have been "just really pissed off" by the revelations in the Panama Papers, she says.
"They were really shocked to see themselves through the eyes of the world like that… they want a new government. They want a vote.
"So I don't think (the change of prime minister) is going to solve anything. It is lengthening the hanging rope."
She says a planned vote of no confidence by minor parties in the Althingi will probably fail, but she would not be surprised if the government called a snap poll within the next few months, after securing its legacy.
If they try to brazen it out, they can expect more big protests including a large one being organised for this weekend.
"I would just like for the government to acknowledge that there is no trust," Ms Jonsdottir said.
"If we want to save face in the international community something more needs to happen.
"When you have a sense of complete distrust like we are experiencing in Iceland then things can't just go back to normal, you know?"
Jonsdottir entered parliament in 2009 as part of a coalition called the Civic Movement.
Afterwards she discovered WikiLeaks and met Julian Assange, who she helped curate the leaked Iraq War video Collateral Murder, which showed a series of helicopter attacks that killed Iraqi men including two Reuters correspondents.

[Magda Hassan]

Avast me hearties! Ho! Ho! Ho! A pirate's life for me! I would love the pirate party to get in. I think they have some great policies. I know Birgitta is not and never has sought leadership of anything. But like many does seek to change the disastrous direction we are all heading. The pirates style is more decentralised and consensus based. There are many highly creative original thinkers in there. And Icelanders have had enough of this sort of BS and they have a really good chance to get in. Just watch the MSM and western elite look on in horror at the prospect and ridicule and marginalise them. Personally I think Iceland would do well to embrace the good pirates and sail free on the open seas. ::

[David Guyatt]

Avast me hearties! Ho! Ho! Ho! A pirate's life for me! I would love the pirate party to get in. I think they have some great policies. I know Birgitta is not and never has sought leadership of anything. But like many does seek to change the disastrous direction we are all heading. The pirates style is more decentralised and consensus based. There are many highly creative original thinkers in there. And Icelanders have had enough of this sort of BS and they have a really good chance to get in. Just watch the MSM and western elite look on in horror at the prospect and ridicule and marginalise them. Personally I think Iceland would do well to embrace the good pirates and sail free on the open seas. ::

Can the UK please be Iceland?

The Wunch of Bankers who run our country are an everyday embarrassment and a disaster waiting to happen around every corner.

[Peter Lemkin]

Avast me hearties! Ho! Ho! Ho! A pirate's life for me! I would love the pirate party to get in. I think they have some great policies. I know Birgitta is not and never has sought leadership of anything. But like many does seek to change the disastrous direction we are all heading. The pirates style is more decentralised and consensus based. There are many highly creative original thinkers in there. And Icelanders have had enough of this sort of BS and they have a really good chance to get in. Just watch the MSM and western elite look on in horror at the prospect and ridicule and marginalise them. Personally I think Iceland would do well to embrace the good pirates and sail free on the open seas. ::

Can the UK please be Iceland?

The Wunch of Bankers who run our country are an everyday embarrassment and a disaster waiting to happen around every corner.

But David, they all have tailor-made suits and oh such nice BIG homes and cars - where would the Empire be without its little emperori sucking the money and life out of the rest of the plebs? You'd be stuck with a stinking democracy.....imagine that...!

By the way....Birgitta did not become PM. The Minister of Agriculture [I believe] did....about whom I know nothing.

[Magda Hassan]

....
By the way....Birgitta did not become PM. The Minister of Agriculture [I believe] did....about whom I know nothing.

I don't think this is the end of the story. Even if it is not Birgitta that ends up the PM. Icelanders are not happy with this non-resignation resignation. Nor the appointment of the Ag-fisheries guy. Nor any thing much. They want new elections and no more banking BS. The US have their military aircrafts there right now. I am sure there is a lot of meetings, conversations/threats/begging/bribing, sweet talking and pleading happening. They may take the guilty parties away to be reunited with their money in the Caribbean or they may bomb the place. Hard to say with the US. The US will have a hard time saying they need to bring democracy to this country which is already the oldest running parliamentary democracy in the world.

[Peter Lemkin]

....
By the way....Birgitta did not become PM. The Minister of Agriculture [I believe] did....about whom I know nothing.

I don't think this is the end of the story. Even if it is not Birgitta that ends up the PM. Icelanders are not happy with this non-resignation resignation. Nor the appointment of the Ag-fisheries guy. Nor any thing much. They want new elections and no more banking BS. The US have their military aircrafts there right now. I am sure there is a lot of meetings, conversations/threats/begging/bribing, sweet talking and pleading happening. They may take the guilty parties away to be reunited with their money in the Caribbean or they may bomb the place. Hard to say with the US. The US will have a hard time saying they need to bring democracy to this country which is already the oldest running parliamentary democracy in the world.

Aha, it was Agrigculture/Fisheries - that makes a big difference [fishing is BIG business in Iceland]. USA bomb Iceland? Hell, it is about the only country we haven't as far as I can remember.....might as well make it a perfect set. I agree that things are far from settled down in Iceland and the Pirate Party and Birgitta may well yet play a much more important role...and one for the better, I'm sure [and one to antagonize the USA - I'd love to see the apoplectic face of the CIA station chief in Reykjavik even now]. Long live the Pirate Party and may she spread her mainsails West to the shores of the biggest real pirates of them all...the USS Pirate currently anchored between Canada and Mexico [and last seen fleecing/attacking everyone on board and not on board - Worldwide].