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.

Ward served as lead counsel to Iceland alongside ambassador Kristjan Andri Stefansson and Supreme Court attorney Johannes Karl Sveinsson as co-counsel. The legal team also worked with a group of advisers led by Dr Poiares Maduro, former advocate-general of the European Court of Justice.

The EFTA Surveillance Authority relied on its own legal team, turning to director Xavier Lewis and legal officer Gjermund Mathisen, while the EC was represented by its agents Enrico Traversa AlbertNijenhuis and Karl-Philipp Wojcik.

Speaking to Icelandic media, the country's Minister for Foreign Affairs Ossur Skarpheoinsson called Ward's advocacy a "masterpiece".

Ward has previously acted on several major regulatory and competition cases, including a 2011 role for Vodafone on a challenge brought by BT against Ofcom to mobile telephone wholesale pricing structures, on which he was instructed by Herbert Smith. He is also currently advising on matters related to the manipulation of the Libor interest rate.

Despite yesterday's ruling, the British and Dutch governments are still likely to get paid back most, if not all, of the money they paid out to savers in the online bank. However, they are not likely to be paid interest for the full period since the bank's collapse as both countries had requested.

A host of UK law firms won roles in relation to Iceland's 2008 financial meltdown. Legacy Lovells was brought in by the Icelandic Government to advise on any potential claims that it might make against the UK Treasury in the wake of the collapse of the Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir banks. Other firms advising on the crisis included legacy Denton Wilde Sapte, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Slaughter and May.

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