Council chiefs have successfully clawed back nearly £1 million of taxpayer cash which was feared lost following the collapse of an Icelandic banking giant.
A lengthy legal battle to recoup Perth and Kinross Council’s substantial investment in the now defunct Glinter Bank has been partially fruitful, it has emerged.
The local authority is one of dozens of councils and public bodies which had deposited money in the bank before it went bust in 2008 at the onset of the worldwide financial meltdown.
Council leader Ian Miller revealed that all but £15,000 of the investment has now been recovered.
The Icelandic Central Bank, which has held the deposit since 2012, hosted a currency auction last month and councils were told they could use their investment held in escrow accounts to participate.
Successful bids were able to exchange the Icelandic Krona into Euros, meaning the money could finally be paid into UK bank accounts.
Although around £15,000 was lost because of exchange rates, the council was told it would not have to pay an “exit tax” on its cash, which could have been as much as 30%.
Mr Miller said it was the best result the council could have hoped for.
“I am pleased to see that the long-running saga of our investment with Glitner Bank has now been concluded,” he added.
Five years ago the council had budgeted on only a 31% return of investment, described at the time as a potential worst case scenario.
Other local authorities had invested substantially more, including North Ayrshire, which was owed around £15m, and Moray Council, which was left £2m out of pocket.