What are offshore króna assets?
Offshore króna assets are the following assets, as they were at the time the Act on the Treatment of Króna-Denominated Assets Subject to Special Restrictions entered into force:
a) Deposits denominated in Icelandic krónur and held by the following parties with deposit money banks in Iceland, irrespective of whether the party in question is the beneficial owner of the deposits or whether that party holds them in custody for another:
a-1) Foreign legal entities that have an operating licence or that carry out legally defined activities in the financial markets, their branches, and subsidiaries owned by them.
a-2) Other foreign institutional investors that invest in financial instruments, including parties that engage in securitisation or other financing activities.
b) Funds held in a custodial deposit account in the name of the payer, in an escrow account with a deposit money bank in the name of the owner or his representative, or in the form of specified assets of a creditor in the custody of the payer, provided that they have been paid for the benefit of a non-resident entity that has or has had a claim against a legal entity that has undergone winding-up proceedings or insolvency proceedings or has undergone restructuring via composition agreement.
c) Icelandic Treasury bonds and bills issued in Icelandic krónur or bearing a State guarantee, and owned or held in custody by a party falling under Item (a).
d) Unit share certificates owned or held in custody by a party falling under Item (a) and issued in Icelandic krónur, in mutual, investment, and institutional investment funds that invest, directly or indirectly, in financial instruments issued by the Icelandic Treasury or bearing a State guarantee.
e) Shares, bonds, and any type of debt instrument issued in Icelandic krónur by resident entities that underwent restructuring on the basis of a composition agreement according to the Act on Bankruptcy, Etc., after 28 November 2008, and owned by non-resident legal entities as a result of conversion of claims in which they invested after 28 November 2008. The same applies to reinvestment of the proceeds from such assets that have been sold, either partially or in full.
f) Shares, bonds, and any type of debt instrument issued in Icelandic krónur by resident entities, if the investment took place after 28 November 2008 and payment was remitted, directly or indirectly, by withdrawal from an account in Icelandic krónur with a foreign financial institution.
g) Unit share certificates owned or held in custody by a party falling under Item (a) and issued in Icelandic krónur, in mutual, investment, and institutional investment funds that, among other things, invest, directly or indirectly, in financial instruments issued in Icelandic krónur by entities other than the Icelandic Treasury or bearing a State guarantee; deposits, cash, and derivatives.
h) Sales proceeds or other payments due to assets according to Items (c)-(g) that accrue during the period from the entry into force of the Act until 1 September 2016.
Exemptions from the scope of the Act
The following offshore króna assets are exempt from the provisions of the Act on the Treatment of Króna-Denominated Assets Subject to Special Restrictions:
1) Those owned by governments, central banks, and international institutions of which Iceland is a member.
2) Those deriving from payments of premiums according to contractual agreements in domestic currency concerning supplemental insurance for the acquisition of personal pension savings and concerning investment plan insurance, single-premium life insurance, and regular savings on the basis of the exemptions of foreign insurance companies and foreign pension custodians from the restrictions set forth in Article 13(b), Paragraph 3 of the Foreign Exchange Act.
3) Those held by foreign electronic money institutions and payment institutions and utilised in accordance with these institutions’ exemptions from the restrictions set forth in Article 13(b), Paragraphs 1 and 2 and Article 13(c), Paragraph 2 of the Foreign Exchange Act, for the purpose of engaging in payment intermediation in Iceland.
4) Confirmed new investments according to Article 13(m) of the Foreign Exchange Act and those deriving from investments undertaken after 28 November 2008 using new inflows of foreign currency in the sense of Article 13(m), Paragraph 2 of the Foreign Exchange Act, but not including direct or indirect investments in derivatives contracts and claims against entities that are in winding-up or insolvency proceedings or have concluded winding-up or insolvency proceedings via a composition agreement entailing the distribution of assets to creditors.
5) Those deriving from participation in Central Bank of Iceland auctions during the period from 28 June 2011 through 10 February 2015.
6) Those deriving from the satisfaction, by parties falling under Article 2 of the Act on a Stability Tax at the time that Act entered into force, of claims according to a composition agreement.
7) Those offshore króna assets according to Article 2, Item 1(e) of the Act that derive from non-residents’ claims against residents on the basis of a composition agreement pursuant to the Act on Bankruptcy, Etc., if the Central Bank of Iceland has granted an exemption from the restrictions set forth in the Foreign Exchange Act, for distributions in foreign currency.
8) Those offshore króna assets that were the basis for foreign exchange transactions with the Central Bank of Iceland at the reference exchange rate according to Article 9, Paragraph 2.
9) Those offshore króna assets that were the basis for foreign exchange transactions in the Central Bank of Iceland foreign currency auction held in 2016, at the auction exchange rate, for an amount equal to the market value of the offshore króna assets, so that settlement of the transaction takes place with delivery, by the owner of the offshore króna assets, of an amount equal to the market value of the offshore króna assets less the product of the market value of the offshore króna assets and a percentage of the Central Bank of Iceland’s official central exchange rate of the Icelandic króna against the euro on 20 May 2016 and the auction exchange rate.
10) Those owners of offshore króna assets that are exempt from Article 13(b), Paragraph 3 of the Foreign Exchange Act due to transfer of custody from a non-resident legal entity to a deposit institution or custodian in Iceland on the basis of a written application received by the Central Bank of Iceland prior to the entry into force of this Act.
Granting of exemptions from Act no. 37/2016
The Act on the Treatment of Króna-Denominated Assets Subject to Special Restrictions, no. 37/2016, does not authorise the Bank to grant exemptions from the Act. On the other hand, Article 3, Item 10 of Act no. 37/2016 states that the restrictions provided for in Article 2 of the same Act do not apply to those offshore króna assets for which the Central Bank has granted an exemption from Article 13(b), Paragraph 3 of the Foreign Exchange Act, for the transfer of domestic currency from the custody of a foreign legal entity to a deposit institution or custodian in Iceland, provided that a written application for such transfer was received prior to the entry into force of Act no. 37/2016.