Private company

Kaupthing Bank

Logo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons³

International Icelandic bank

Kaupþing Bank was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis, and the domestic Icelandic-based operations were spun into a new bank, New Kaupthing, which was subsequently renamed Arion Banki. All the non-Icelandic assets and debts remained with the now defunct Kaupthing Bank.² It employed 3,330 people.¹ Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

Feb 22, 1982Founded¹

Industryfinancial services¹
HeadquartersReykjavík¹
Websitewww.kaupthing.com
Legal formlimited company¹

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Kaupþing Bank (Icelandic: Kaupþing banki, pronounced [ˈkʰœyːpˌθiŋk ˈpauŋcɪ]) was a major international Icelandic bank, headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. It was taken over by the Icelandic government during the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis, and the domestic Icelandic-based operations were spun into a new bank, New Kaupthing, which was subsequently renamed Arion Banki. All the non-Icelandic assets and debts remained with the now defunct Kaupthing Bank. Prior to its collapse, it also allegedly loaned money to various parties with the purpose of buying Kaupthing shares.²

Corporate structure

Kaupthing Bank sits at the top of its group. 3 entities, 2 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Kaupthing Bank Reykjavík
- Aurora Fashions Subsidiary · Iceland
- Karen Millen Subsidiary · Witney

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What Kaupthing Bank reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.¹

The story

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. In the mid-1990s, Kaupthing widened its focus to include opportunities abroad, becoming the first Icelandic financial institution to operate outside Iceland.

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. Kaupthing Bank shares were listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 2002.

By 9 October 2008, Kaupthing Bank HF was forced into government receivership, only days after a crisis at Landsbanki placed that bank into government control. Due to the crisis throughout the Icelandic financial system, all trading in the country's equity markets was suspended on 13 October 2008. The events were followed by the collapse of Iceland's banking sector, which led to the 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis.

On 31 July 2009, internal documents from Kaupthing Bank were leaked: WikiLeaks exposed a confidential 210-page document listing Kaupthing's exposure to loans ranging from 45 million to 1.25 billion euros. The leaked presentation revealed that the bank had loaned billions of euros to its major shareholders, including a total of €1.43 billion to Exista and subsidiaries, which own 23% of the bank.

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

The pair was charged with putting in offers to buy Exista shares six times in January and February last year shortly before the close of business so that the offers would affect the end-of-day value of Exista shares. The charges were of submitting false purchase enquiries and of share price manipulation.

From Wikipedia’s article on Kaupthing Bank, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.⁴

Subsidiaries and ownership

Also owns

From Wikidata.¹

Acquisitions

1930 Búnaðarbanki Íslands (English: Agricultural Bank of Iceland) founded in Iceland

1982: Kaupthing hf. founded in Iceland

1998 Kaupthing Luxembourg, S.A. opened

2000: Kaupthing Faroe Islands opened, Kaupthing New York opened, Kaupthing Stockholm opened

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2001: Kaupthing Bank Copenhagen opened, Kaupthing Lausanne opened, Sofi acquired in Finland

2002 Aragon acquired in Sweden, JP Nordiska acquired in Sweden, Auðlind acquired in Iceland

2003 Kaupthing merges with Búnaðarbanki Íslands to form Kaupthing Bank; Tyren acquired in Norway, Norvestia acquired in Finland, Kaupthing Limited opened in the UK

2004: A. Sundvall acquired in Norway, FIH acquired in Denmark

2005 Singer & Friedlander acquired in the UK

2006: Kaupthing Limited merges with Singer & Friedlander to form Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander in the UK

2007 Kaupthing buys Dutch merchant bank NIBC for €3 billion; as of late January 2008, Kaupthing decided to cancel the acquisition of NIBC

2007 Kaupthing acquired a 20% stake in New Delhi-based Indian investment services company Finoble Advisors with an option to buy the remaining 80% in five years' time

2007: Kaupthing buys Belgian private banking and asset management operations of Robeco Bank for an unspecified amount, further strengthening its position in the Benelux market.

2007: Kaupthing hf acquired Derbyshire Offshore, the Isle of Man subsidiary of Derbyshire Building Society, continuing Derbyshire Offshore's irrevocable and binding guarantee for all depositors' funds in the new subsidiary, Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander (Isle of Man) Ltd.

2007–2008: Kaupthing launches internet-based Kaupthing Edge in the UK, Belgium, Norway, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Isle of Man, Austria and Switzerland.

2008: The UK business of Kaupthing Edge, covering £2.5 billion in deposits and 160,000 customers, is taken over by ING Direct after the Financial Services Authority closed its London centre of operations.

2009: The Luxembourg business of Kaupthing is acquired by Banque Havilland.