CLG officials are still hopeful they can claw back all local government cash frozen in Icelandic banks, despite warnings that councils could be forced to write off 90% of their deposits. A CLG spokesman this week told The MJ that ministers and officials have not given up hope of returning the full £925M held by 125 local authorities in Iceland's collapsed banks. ‘Discussions are ongoing, but there is no evidence that councils will be forced to write off their sums,' he said. The CLG's response followed claims by a senior local government investment adviser that councils could end up writing off vast sums. Mark Horsfield, director at Arlingclose, which advises over 50 pension councils, told the BBC he was tracking the market in unsecured debt linked to company insolvencies.
