The number of councils with deposits in Icelandic banks has now passed 100. Meanwhile there are fears for other parts of the public sector.

Now I’ve just been shown a letter sent to Alistair Darling today by the Charity Finance Directors’ Group.

Dear Chancellor,

Further to my letter of this morning additional information has come to light that I thought
you would want to be aware of. Kaupthing Friedlander & Singer specifically targeted the
charity market and I suspect that many charities will have lost substantial amounts,
rendering the £50k of compensation available to some charities a drop in the ocean.
Since our letter to you this morning we have heard from many members with deposit
accounts with this bank who are exposed to significant losses, for example £6.2m, £5.7m,
£4.3m, £4.0m, £1.1m, £0.8m and £520k. This is clearly not just a matter of extending
the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to all charities. The matter is clearly more
serious and we are asking you to make compensation available for all amounts lost to all
charities as well as extending the relief made available by the Financial Services
Compensation Scheme to all charities.

I look forward to hearing your response on this matter.
Yours faithfully
Keith Hickey
Chief Executive
Charity Finance Directors’ Group

October 9, 2008 6:05pm in Alistair Darling, Banks, UK politics | Comment