Icelandic boss bought home for £10.5m

THE boss of an Icelandic bank bought a home in west London for £10.5million just months before his bank collapsed, it was claimed today.

Kaupthing chairman Sigurder Einarsson was said to have paid over £2.5million above the market value for the four-bedroom house in a deal financed by his bank.

The revelation comes ahead of meetings between council representatives and ministers to see what help can be given to local authorities hit by the Icelandic banking crisis which has put the savings of thousands of Britons at risk.

Some 116 councils and other public bodies have about £1billion invested in failed Icelandic banks. Last week Kaupthing's assets were frozen and investors' stakes wiped out when it went into receivership.