bankarnir

Bankarnir is a term in Icelandic meaning "the banks" and is used to refer collectively to Iceland's three largest commercial banks during the 2000s: Landsbanki Íslands, Glitnir, and Kaupþing Banki. They grew rapidly in the early 2000s, expanding abroad and diversifying into investment activities, funded by wholesale capital and interbank lending. Their aggressive expansion left the sector highly leveraged and interconnected with international financial markets.

In 2008, during the global financial crisis, Bankarnir faced a systemic crisis. In October 2008, the banks were placed into official receivership and subsequently collapsed or were dissolved, triggering a severe recession, a collapse of the Icelandic krona, and a need for emergency financial support. The government and Icelandic authorities, with international partners, implemented stabilisation measures, including the creation of new banking institutions to provide essential domestic services and safeguard deposits. The crisis also led to the Icesave dispute with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, regarding compensation for foreign depositors.

In the aftermath, wide-ranging reforms were implemented to overhaul financial regulation, supervision, and crisis management. The legal framework for banks, deposit insurance, and resolution procedures was strengthened, and several of the old banks' operations were restructured, privatized, or wound down over the following years. Economically, Iceland pursued IMF-led programmes and financial assistance, with gradual recovery beginning in the early 2010s.

Today, the term Bankarnir is used historically to describe the era of rapid growth and collapse of Iceland's dominant banks, and it remains a reference point in discussions of Iceland's financial crisis and subsequent reforms.