Huffington Post: IceSave Agreement: Just Sign It! (Iris Erlingsdottir, January 2 2010)

Tens of thousands of investors--individuals, municipalities, and charities--took advantage of the exceptionally high rates offered on Landbanki's IceSave savings accounts, only to discover that these accounts were not formally backed by any government. Landsbanki officials had inexplicably failed to register as a domestic bank in either country, and thus were not backed by government deposit insurance. When Landsbanki went into receivership on October 7th, British authorities invoked anti-terror legislation on October 8th to freeze Landsbanki's assets there.

(my emphasis) WTF!?

... Ólafur Ragnar should sign the bill because it's the right thing to do, and because the consequences of rejection would be disastrous.

...

[If the bill is not signed] the current government would almost certainly fall, and any chance at reasonable reform would die. The conservative Independence Party that ran Iceland until the collapse would retake power and restart the party. The businessmen whose reckless actions placed the county in danger would return with the illicit funds they've placed in off-shore accounts and buy Iceland's resources for a song.

Most importantly, the new government would take whatever steps necessary to ensure that these culprits never see the inside of a jail cell. The investigation of the misdeeds that led to Iceland's collapse has proceeded very methodically, and the special prosecutor now appears on the cusp of indicting some of the Independence Party's biggest supporters. If the investigators are allowed to continue, we'll see whether the rumors of money laundering for the Russian mafia are true, whether vast amounts of money are indeed sitting in Tortola, whether bank employees exploited pension funds with same glee that Enron employees exhibited while ripping off California consumers, and whether our politicians and regulators were bribable.

...

By signing it, Ólafur Ragnar would ensure that the new government would be able to finish what it has started--a thorough investigation into the events that led to our fall. Unless Eva Joly and Ólafur Þór Hauksson are permitted to complete their task, not only will the wrongdoers escape justice, but we will show them that there are no adverse consequences for their incompetence and malfeasance.

This raises the question of who is behind the InDefence group that started the petition against the Icesave law.

What on earth are Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and Hoskuldur Thorhallsson of the Progressive Party, doing in Norway?

The official spin is that they are explaining the economic situation in Iceland, and perhaps fishing for a loan without IMF's conditions.

But why are two managers of a failed Icelandic hedge fund in the podium with them? Boreas Capital which has ties with Landsbankinn and is run by close friends of Bjorgolfur Thor.

And why is the hedge fund registered at the same address as an investment company owned by Sigmundur David's father?