Finance Minister’s Family Purchase State Assets Behind Closed Doors

Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson’s family was granted early access to an unadvertised share sale that allowed them to purchase a stake in Landsbankinn asset Borgun, reports Kjarninn.

In all, Landsbankinn sold 31.5% of Borgun shares in this sale to a number of companies. The largest portion of shares went to Stálskip who purchased 29,43% of the shares.

The second largest portion of shares went to the Finance Minister’s uncle and cousin who purchased 19.71% of the shares through their company P126 via parent company, Charamino Holdings Limited, registered in Luxembourg.

According to Kjarninn the sale of these shares in electronic payment solution provider Borgun did not follow any formal sales process and went completely unadvertised.

Additionally, as Borgun is an asset of Landsbankinn – of which the government is the majority owner – the the sale falls under the jurisdiction of the Finance Minister.