Statement regarding the Central Bank Currency Department´s investigation of Samherji hf.

With regard to the media coverage relating to the affairs of Samherji I, in my capacity of the company’s legal counsel, wish to make the following statement:

When the Central Bank Currency Department searched the premises of Samherji hf. on 27 March 2012, the search warrant was based on relevant provisions of the law on currency exchange. The media have repeatedly maintained that this was a joint operation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the Currency Department. This is incorrect. The staff members from the Office of the Special Prosecutor who visited Samherji’s premises on the day in question made it absolutely clear that they were on loan from the Office of the Special Prosecutor as assistants, whereas the search of the premises and the confiscation of documentation was entirely under the auspices of the Currency Department of the Central Bank of Iceland. On the state television channel it was alleged this evening that the company is under suspicion of having infringed the tax law. This, furthermore, is incorrect. The company’s management have only been vaguely informed that the investigation is directed towards a potential infringement of the currency exchange law. It is not least because of rumours of this kind, which obviously cause severe harm to the company, that the Central Bank Currency Department must make an official statement explaining the reasons for the harsh action taken against the company’s office premises on the morning of 27 March 2012.

Helgi Jóhannesson

Supreme Court attorney