Prior to its collapse, it also allegedly loaned money to various parties with the purpose of buying Kaupthing shares.

Established in 1982 as a small agency for financial advisory and securities brokerage, Kaupthing became a major player in the changes in the Icelandic financial market, continually setting trends and being one of the five founding partners of the Icelandic Stock Exchange.

Under the leadership of Sigurður Einarsson, Kaupthing was listed on the Icelandic Stock Exchange in October 2000, at which point the original owners of the bank, the savings banks in Iceland, reduced their holdings, and individuals and institutional investors replaced them as shareholders.

[8] Due to the crisis throughout the Icelandic financial system, all trading in the country's equity markets was suspended on 13 October 2008.

[9] On 9 December 2009, Daniel Thordarsson, former asset manager, and Stefnir Ingi Agnarsson, former stock broker, both of Kaupthing Hf, were sentenced to eight-month prison terms by the Reykjavik District Court.

The purpose of the brand was to diversify liabilities on the Kaupthing balance sheet by currency, customer type (personal/retail) and country.

Kaupthing Edge savings and fixed-term deposit accounts were managed over the Internet with the support of telephone call centers.

[citation needed] Meidur (later renamed to Exista) acquired a 12% stake of Kaupthing Bank in October 2002.

The FSA concluded that KSF is in default for the purposes of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme".

[22] On 9 October 2008, the Financial Supervisory Authority took control of Kaupthing after the resignation of the entire board of directors.

[24] The prime minister of Iceland, Geir Haarde, has stated that the British government brought down Kaupthing unnecessarily by abusing its power.

[26] In Finland, the Financial Supervision Authority (Rahoitustarkastus) took control over the Finnish branch to prevent funds being transferred to Iceland.

Kaupthing's lawyers have threatened WikiLeaks with legal action, citing banking privacy laws.

In addition, the sentences for majority owner, Ólafur Ólafsson, and Magnús Guðmundsson, former chief executive of the Luxembourg branch, were lengthened to 4.5 years in prison.