In two separate rulings last week, the Supreme Court of Iceland and the Reykjavík District Court sentenced
three top managers of Landsbankinn and
two top managers of Kaupþing, along with one
prominent investor, to prison for crimes committed in the lead-up to the financial collapse of 2008. With these rulings the number of bankers and financiers who have been sentenced to prison for crimes relating to the financial collapse has reached 26, and a combined prison time of 74 years.
Eleven former bankers have been sentenced to four and a half years or more in prison. The former
top bosses of Kaupþing have received the longest sentences to date. Hreiðar Már Sigurðsson, the
former CEO of failed bank Kaupþing and Magnús Guðmundsson, the
CEO of Kaupþing Luxembourg, top the list, having been sentenced to a combined six years in prison for
extensive market manipulation, embezzlement and breach of fiduciary duties. The maximum combined sentence for financial crimes according to Icelandic law is six years.