UK and Dutch to sue Iceland for Icesave money

The Netherlands and Britain are planning to take Iceland to court for refusing to repay money paid to Icesave depositors following the collapse of the country’s banking system in 2008, said chief secretary of the treasury, Danny Alexander.

Icelandic voters have rejected the government backed deal to pay back to Britain and the Netherlands $5.8bn worth of losses, the government of Iceland said in a statement. This is the second time the country voted in a referendum against the payment of the money.

The referendum, which had a voter turnout of around 75 percent, indicated 59.7 percent of voters said no to the “Icesave deal”, while 40.1 percent said yes, according to the National Electorate Commission.

“The vote has split the country in two. We must do all we can to prevent economic and political chaos as a result of the outcome,” said Johanna Sigurdadottir, the prime minister of Iceland.