Russia Threatens to Seize Western Assets | DW News

Mar 14, 2022 • Russian authorities have threatened foreign companies that are withdrawing from the country with arrests and asset seizures.. that's according to the Wall Street Journal. Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Apple have closed stores in Russia. Procter & Gamble, IBM and others have halted exports to the country. Over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would favor putting firms under 'external management'. The Russian government has allegedly threatened to also seize their assets, including intellectual property.

Financial Crisis: Iceland Nationalises Bank and Seeks Russian Loan
THE TELEGRAPH: The Icelandic government has seized the country's second-largest bank and pleaded with Russia to hand it a £3bn life-line loan in order to stave off "national bankruptcy" as it continued to come to grips with its harsh new economic realities.

Prime Minister Geir Haarde rushed emergency measures through the Nordic nation's parliament to nationalise Landsbanki and give the country's largest bank, Kaupthing, a £400m loan to bolster its balance sheet.

Landsbanki has been put into the control of the Icelandic financial regulator to prevent the meltdown of the country's financial system, triggering the collapse of its popular internet savings arm Icesave.

Mr Haarde confirmed that he was sending a delegation to Iceland's "new friend" Russia to negotiate a £3bn capital injection into the country's finances, after the country's traditional Western allies refused to help the collapsing banking system.

The loan from Russia will be used to shore up the Icelandic krona, which tumbled by 30pc on Monday, rather than the country's two nationalised banks, Landsbanki and Glitnir.

However it was reported that Iceland chose not to seek the help of the International Monetary Fund, a suggestion allegedly first made by Japan.

The Icelandic krona has now been pegged at 131 against the euro as an emergency measure and the stock exchange has banned short-selling of bank shares.

The new manager of Landsbanki, Halldor Kristjansson, placed part of the blame for the nationalisation of the bank on savers trying to withdraw their money from Icesave, which has 300,000 British customers with a collective £4bn of savings.

Asked about the run on Icesave, Mr Kristjansson said: "That by itself caused additional problems on top of everything else. There are so many interwoven factors. That wasn't the main problem, although it was very big." Financial Crisis: Iceland Nationalises Bank and Seeks Russian Loan >>> By Rowena Mason, in Reykjavik | October 8, 2008

Watch BBC video: Iceland Looks to Russia for Loan: Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde has confirmed that the country is to hold talks with Russia over a loan to stabilise the troubled banking system. >>> | October 8, 2008

Watch BBC video: Iceland Guarantees Accounts: Iceland's government is to offer an unlimited guarantee for all bank customers' savings accounts. Hugh Pym reports >>> | October 8, 2008

Watch BBC video: Financial Fears in oceland: Iceland's government is to offer an unlimited guarantee for all bank accounts, following fears about savings.

Members of the public, Editor-in-chief of t24 Óli Björn Kárason, and Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, who is the leader of the shareholders union, talk about financial problems in their country. >>> | October 8, 2008

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Financial Crisis: Bradford & Bingley Likely to Be Nationalised
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Taxpayers face a multi-billion-pound bill as part of a plan to rescue the stricken mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, it has emerged.

The biggest buy-to-let operator is on the verge of being nationalised by the Government as time runs out on attempts to find a private buyer.

B&B’s shares will be suspended when the stock market opens on Monday. By that point, the Government will either nationalise the bank or announce a deal to sell it.

Senior Treasury officials are working on a plan to take B&B into public ownership. That could be followed by a swift sale to a bank, with Santander of Spain – which also owns Abbey – seen as the favourite.

But unlike the sale of HBOS to Lloyds TSB two weeks ago, the deal will require public support, with many of the one million B&B mortgages left with the Treasury. As a result, taxpayers are likely to be left holding the mortgages most likely to default from the £40 billion portfolio.

This will increase the size of the national debt, though the ultimate bill for taxpayers is likely to be less, depending on how many B&B mortgage holders default.

Downing Street had called an emergency summit with banking chiefs to try to thrash out a solution. It is the second time in a fortnight that a major British bank has had to be rescued, fuelling fears for the fate of the banking system.

In a sign that the credit crisis is spreading through the wider economic system, the home furnishings retailer MFI also came close to collapse.

In the United States, politicians tried to reach agreement on a $700 billion (£380 billion) bail-out for American banks as insiders said that Wall Street shares could lose up to a third of their value if the talks failed. Financial Crisis: Bradford & Bingley Likely to Be Nationalised by Treasury >>> By Edmund Conway and Katherine Griffiths | September 28, 2008

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FTSE 100 Jumps after America Bails Out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
THE TELEGRAPH: The FTSE 100 jumped more than 100 points at the open this morning, following an earlier rally across Asia, on hopes that the nationalisation of America's two biggest mortgage lenders may help revive the troubled US housing market.

In an unprecedented move, the US Treasury yesterday took control of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in the largest financial bail out on record in a move designed to restore confidence in the $12 trillion (£5.8 trillion) US mortgage market.

The action, which comes at an unknown cost to the American taxpayer, prompted a bout of risk taking from investors across the globe.

Alongside the rally in the FTSE 100 and in stock markets in Germany, France, and Italy, prices for government bonds were hit and the dollar tumbled. FTSE 100 Jumps after America Bails Out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac >>> By James Quinn, Wall Street Correspondent | September 8, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae Rescue Sends Dollar Tumbling >>> By Jamie Dunkley | September 8, 2008

THE INDEPENDENT:
US Bail-Out Sends UK Shares Leaping >>> By Russell Lynch, PA | September 8, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>