Armann Thorvaldsson, a former CEO at Iceland’s Kaupthing Bank in the UK, tells the story of how he witnessed the bank grow from a small brokerage house to a £6 billion international bank. As the bank expanded, Thorvaldsson represented the money behind such household names as Iceland, easyJet, and Karen Millen. He travelled from Reykjavik to London, to Monte Carlo, and partied on yachts with celebrities.

And then it all came crashing to a halt.

As the financial crisis engulfed the world, even the most frantic efforts to save the bank were fruitless. Iceland was slammed with anti-terrorist laws in a major diplomatic incident, and the country’s economy was in tatters. 

Frozen Assets is a powerful story about big ambitions, big money and hubris.

This is the story of how one man, one bank and one country experienced and affected the course of world economic history. Armann Thorvaldsson, a former CEO at Kaupthing in the UK, tells the story of how his company was transformed into a £6 billion international bank, by far the largest in his country’s history.  Helping to build the biggest names in Icelandic business, Thorvaldsson represented the money behind such household names as easyJet, Matalan, Iceland and Karen Millen. As the boom got bigger, the Icelandic bankers worked and played hard with their international clients, including Gordon Ramsay, the Candy brothers, Mike Ashley and Robert Tchenguiz. Moving from Reykjavik to London, Monte Carlo and St Tropez, they seemed unstoppable.

Yet, when the bust came, even the most frantic attempts to save the bank were fruitless, leading to the total collapse of the Icelandic economy. Thorvaldsson’s reflections on exactly what happened and why, make compelling reading.