Failed banks' creditors face exit tax

Creditors of the failed Icelandic banks that went under in the autumn of 2008 may face an exit tax if they want an exception from Iceland's capital controls to transfer their claims out of the country.

The Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið recently said that according to its sources an exit tax of 35 percent was being considered as part of a government plan under construction to remove the capital controls. That figure has not been confirmed by Icelandic authorities.

Steinunn Guðbjartsdóttir, chairman of Glitnir winding-up committee, said to mbl.is that 35 percent exit tax was "completely unrealistic" if the idea was to find a solution. She said, however, that such figure or anything near that had not been mentioned to her.