Resolving the debt problems of individual customers and companies is a priority at the bank

In light of the comments made by the prime minister last night, Arion Bank wishes to state the following:

The bank has made considerable progress in resolving debt problems faced by individual customers and companies. While we would like more progress to have been made, the issue at hand is highly complex and time-consuming and must be approached with great care.

Resolving the debt problems of individual customers and companies is a priority at the bank.

Individual customers

• Approximately 3,000 customers have taken advantage of the solutions offered by the bank to deal with mortgage loans, and the bank has already approved 150 special debt adjustments.
• It must be remembered that the number of cases dealt with dropped sharply during the summer owing to the uncertainty stemming from the Supreme Court rulings on currency-linked lending. The market is now waiting for the minister for economic affairs to introduce a new bill of law on this issue.
• Arion Bank decided in October 2009 that it was not going to sell any residential property in forced sales in 2010.

Companies

• With respect to corporate debt recovery, Arion Bank has focused on larger companies and has reached agreements with two thirds of the larger companies dealing with problem debts.
• As the process with larger companies is well advanced, the focus will now move on to finding debt solutions for smaller companies.