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Dear CFDG,

Frozen Icelandic Assets

This afternoon I and other sector representatives met with Lord Myners, Minister for the City at the Treasury to discuss the impact of the recent freeze of the assets of Icelandic banks. We had a constructive meeting in which the Government promised to make the greatest effort to recover those funds at risk in the Icelandic bank crisis, and at which we were able to clearly put forward the known impact of this crisis and the implications on charities and their beneficiaries. Following the meeting we had lengthy interviews with all the main television channels at which we were able to emphasise the nature of the problem and the need for charities to be supported.

I would now urge all charities that have been affected to come forward immediately so that we can assess the extent of the problem and work with the Office of the Third Sector, Foreign Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Treasury to do all that we can to recover charities' funds tied up in Icelandic banks. I am specifically interested in the following information:

• The full amount of those monies
• The type of fund it is in
• What percentage of your total long term and/or short term reserves this covers
• Do you have any solvency issues as a result of this

We will of course protect your confidentiality but following our meeting this afternoon with the Treasury it is clear to us that if you are willing for information to be public it will help you in our discussions with the Government.

CFDG will continue to press the Government for absolute assurances that charities will not lose out and more importantly our beneficiaries will not be inconvenienced in any way as a result of this banking failure in Iceland. For an idea of the scale of this problem Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander have a statement on their website which says that as of 30th June 2008 they have 99 charity clients and manage over £230m on their behalf.

Below is a joint statement released to the press following the meeting this afternoon with the Government by CFDG, NCVO, CAF and ACEVO.

"After a positive meeting this afternoon in which the Government promised to make the greatest effort to reocver those funds at risk in the Icelandic bank crisis, we now urge all charities that have been affected to come forward immediately so that we can assess the extent of the problem and work with the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Treasury to ensure charities vital resources are protected. We will continue to press the Treasury for absolute assurances that charities will not lose out. We will continue to campaign for charities that have had exposure to Icelandic Banks for full coverage of the losses. "

Please could you respond with the above information, if relevant to you, to info@cfdg.org.uk

Kind Regards
Keith Hickey
Chief Executive, CFDG