News

ISFI welcomes Landsbankinn´s announcement to excercise its authorization granted at the AGM meeting of Landsbankinn earlier this year to purchase its own shares as it coincides with ISFI´s goals of redeeming the initial capital contribution of the government to the bank.

Shareholders other than the Icelandic state were under restrictions that prohibited them to dispose of their holdings until the 1st of september 2016. These shares were subject to sale restrictions on the assumption that by that time shares in the bank would have been listed on a regulated securities market.

In ISFI‘s status report „The Ownership and sale of holdings in Landsbankinn hf.: Status report on the planned sale process“ published on the 8th of January this year, ISFI announced its intentions to submit a proposal to the Minister of Finance and Economic affairs to sell up to 28.2% of the government holdings in Landsbankinn through an IPO. ISFI points out that a thorough preparation is required before a sale process and any transactions on an unregulated market without transparency would be unfortunate before a sale process. Landsbankinn´s repurchase plan will most likely limit such transactions.

ISFI will not submit a proposal to the Minister regarding sale process in the first repurchase period as the opinion of the Minister regarding a sale process before elections on the 29th of October is publicly knowned. ISFI on the other hand intends to submit a proposal in the second or third repurchase periods in accordance with Act no. 155/2012 on the sale process of the state´s holdings in financial undertakings.

For further information please contact Mr. Jón G. Jónsson, Director General of ISFI.