Monckton Chambers' Tim Ward QC has successfully steered the Icelandic Government to victory in the European courts, with a ruling yesterday (28 January) meaning that the country is not obliged to repay Britain and the Netherlands for rescuing savers in the collapsed Icesave bank.

A European Free Trade Association (EFTA) court in Luxembourg yesterday (29 January) dismissed an application brought by the EFTA Surveillance Authority and the European Commission (EC), with Ward defending the Icelandic Government from allegations that it failed to guarantee minimum levels of compensation to savers in the bank.

Icesave, part of Landsbanki, collapsed in 2008, with UK and Dutch savers bailed out in full by their respective governments, which subsequently sought to reclaim some of the billions they paid out in compensation. At the time, an Icelandic compensation scheme was supposed to be responsible for the first €20,887 euros (£16,300) for each saver.