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Straumur - Burdaras hf (ICE:STRB) In light of the extraordinary legislative measures submitted by the government of Iceland and passed by parliament yesterday, providing for broad authority to regulators to intervene in the Icelandic financial system, Straumur-Burdaras Investment Bank hf. (Straumur) wishes to state the following:
Straumur has provided all relevant Icelandic authorities with detailed information about the bank's financial position and has met all such requests for the provision of information. Straumur has not received any indication that its position warrants intervention and the bank remains committed to working with all the relevant authorities as required.
Says William Fall, CEO of Straumur: "Straumur continues to enjoy a strong financial position, with a high capital adequacy ratio and significant liquidity resources. Notwithstanding the recent turmoil, we are endeavoring to continue as before to execute the strategy that we have set out to achieve."
At this stage it is not possible to estimate how any intervention by the authorities into the operations of other financial companies might affect Straumur.
Straumur remains committed to the purchase of Landsbanki Securities (UK) Limited, Landsbanki Kepler and Merrion Landsbanki, and expects these acquisitions to go through as planned.
All deposits placed with Straumur in Iceland are fully guaranteed by the Icelandic authorities. Deposits placed with Straumur's branches and subsidiaries in Denmark, the Czech Republic and Finland enjoy the general guarantees that apply in those respective markets.
For further information contact: Ólafur Teitur Gudnason Vice President, Media Relations Mobile: +354 858 6778 E-mail: olafur.gudnason@straumur.net
Ed Gascoigne-Pees Managing Director Financial Communications Tel: +44 (0)20 7269 7132 Mobile: +44 (0)7884 001 949 E-mail: ed.gascoigne-pees@fd.com
About Straumur: Straumur-Burdaras Investment Bank hf. offers a complete range of integrated financial services focusing on small and medium sized companies, institutional investors and individuals. The services provided include capital markets, corporate finance, debt finance, and asset management. Headquartered in Reykjavík, Straumur is Iceland's largest pure-play investment bank. The Bank had total assets of €6,201m as at the end of Q2 2008. Through organic growth and strategic acquisitions, the Bank has established operations in ten countries including the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic and now employs 520 people. Website: www.straumur.com.