Icelandic raids linked to Kaupthing inquiry
Icelandic police have raided 10 addresses and designated several people as suspects in connection with an investigation into alleged market manipulation at Kaupthing Bank.
Police said the arrests were in connection with the purchase of shares in Kaupthing Bank by Q Finance, a company connected to the Qatari investor Sheikh Mohamed Bin Khalifa Al-Thani.
Kaupthing, Iceland's biggest bank, announced that the Sheikh had bought 5.01pc of its shares several weeks before it had to be nationalised last October.
A press release at the time suggested that the Qatari investment was a vote of confidence in Kaupthing's "strategy and management team" at a time when there were concerns about the banking sector.
It later emerged that the Qatari investor allegedly "bought" the stake using a loan from Kaupthing through a holding company associated with a high-ranking employee. This would have meant that the bank was in effect purchasing its own shares.
An investigation into "suspicions of criminal actions" at Iceland's three collapsed banks, Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir was launched earlier this year by the country's government, putting intense scrutiny on the billions of pounds deposited in them by British citizens and local authorities.
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