How councils beat the freeze

摘要

Brighton & Hove City Council has emerged as one of the creditable 'local heroes' to escape the freeze on investments in Icelandic banks. The council stopped trading with Icelandic banks last year, because of concerns over their rapid expansion, and was quick to issue a statement aimed at reassuring residents as news of the freeze became public. Cabinet member for finance, Cllr Jan Young, said: 'Our watchword is caution. We're very aware of our responsibilities in managing taxpayers' money and are careful both about who we invest with and how much we invest. We suspended transactions with the one we had on our books, Kaupthing, Singer & Friedlander, about a year ago, after picking up concerns in the marketplace about Icelandic banks expanding too quickly.'