After Crisis, Iceland Holds a Tight Grip on Its Banks
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — An angular glass building on the waterfront here used to be the headquarters of a banking giant with operations in Europe, North America and the Middle East.
Now, it houses a shadow of that behemoth — a small bank doing business only in Iceland and lacking both the trading culture and ambitions of its failed predecessor.
The metamorphosis is a result of one of the biggest bank crashes any country has ever had. The risk in Iceland’s financial system has dissipated, but the basic businesses of banking have shrunk as well. Lending to consumers and businesses has slowed to a fraction of what it was before the crisis.
“We moved from a situation where the one that took the biggest risk was the employee of the month, to a situation where the one that took the least risk became the employee of the month,” said Bjarni Benediktsson, the Icelandic finance minister. “I think we need to find a balance in between.”
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/after-crisis-iceland-holds-a-tight-grip-on-its-banks/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140116