Iceland's Secret: The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Con

by Jared Bibler

Born in Massachusetts, Jared Bibler relocated to Iceland in 2004 only to find himself in the middle of an unprecedented financial crisis a handful of years later. Personally wiped out and seeking to uncover the truth about a collapse that brought the pastoral country to its knees, he became the lead investigator into some of the largest financial crimes in the world. This work helped Iceland to famously become the only country to jail its bank CEOs in the wake of the 2008 crisis.

But the real story behind that headline is far more complex ― and sinister.

A decade after the investigations, the story can be told at last and in full. The crisis, barely understood inside or outside of Iceland even today, is a cautionary tale for the world: an inside look at the high crimes that inevitably follow Wild West capitalism. With the next global financial meltdown just around the corner, this untold tale is as timely as ever.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Crime, Finance, Business, Politics, Audiobook

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 5, 2021

Reviews

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jared Bibler's book, Iceland's Secret: The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Con, is a true story that reads like a thriller with intrigue, fraud, greed, ego, and the distortion of truth. Bibler moved to Iceland in 2004 and became the lead investigator regarding the financial collapse of the Iceland banks.

What he uncovered takes your breath away as well as what happens once he discovers the truth.

Bibler narrates the audiobook and does a superb job.

[Dee (in the Desert) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up. When visiting last year, I had no idea that Iceland went so badly belly-up in the 2008 Great Recession, and I found this in-depth report as to why quite interesting. Many just average folks (including the author) lost all their savings when the 3 major banks all failed at the same time & it was both avoidable & criminal. Very glad they recovered & that they prosecuted those awful bankers responsible, which seems to be a major issue in the U.S. where rich & powerful get away without any accountability whatsoever. I personally found Iceland to be an incredibly beautiful, safe & wonderful country and I do hope I get to go back there one day.

[Agnė · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about a man living in Iceland and investigating one of the biggest financial crimes in the history. There is no real happy ending here, however, there is a provocative and engaging account of a man living and working in Iceland, and in this small market becoming an investigator of huge market abuse instances. The book raises lots of good questions, gives humorous examples about investigating work, and comments life in Iceland as an outsider. Oh, and the crimes are so huge that is hard to fathom, and no one really gets severe punishments, so there is that.

[Christian Langenegger · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Michael Lewis‘ The Big Short, you‘ll enjoy this read. But more than enjoyment, I hope it causes all readers to reflect on our markets and society. The final chapter sums up the lessons we should take.

[KH · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating story. And it’s not fantasy but true scam happening in Icelands’s banking sector for several years before the 2008 global financial crisis even hit. How stupid can people be who behave like this? And how more stupid can the courts be to let those criminals get away so easily :S

[Yusei158 · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really important book for understanding global corruption and how it interfaces with the 2008 economic crash.

[Riccardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Understand better the crisis for every country practicing market capitalism.

[Ian Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few people are better-equipped to chronicle the saga of the 2008 collapse of Iceland's entire banking sector than Jared Bibler. A graduate of MIT, he moved to Reykjavik in summer 2004. He had a ringside seat as the Nordic nation’s banking sector over-extended itself and imploded, first as an asset manager at the country’s second-largest bank, Landsbanki, then as a regulator. His book is a blend of candid personal memoir and a Nordic noir that reveals his gradual but jaw-dropping discoveries as a regulator. The core message of Iceland's Secret is that, if any country is unwise enough to let its bankers run riot in a regulatory vacuum, they will take advantage of absence of meaningful rules or oversight to commit brazen and protracted frauds often on a gargantuan scale, which will ultimately cost the population of the countries in which they operate dear. Bibler also shows how such a situation is likely to be even more hazardous should the bankers given a free pass by a country’s media, politicians and government (as was the case in Iceland and other countries which suffered the most severe banking crises in 2007-9 including Ireland and the UK). The book is a cautionary tale, even an allegory, warning us that, unless financial regulators globally wake up and find some backbone, similar sorts of shenanigans could be going on in any corner of the financial markets, not just in Iceland, with potentially devastating results.

[Brett Peruzzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jared Bibler’s insider/outsider status on several distinct levels make him the perfect person to plumb the depths of Iceland’s 2008 financial meltdown. As an American living in Iceland before, during, and after the crisis, who also speaks Icelandic, he is able to research and assess what happened in a more clear-eyed way than the natives, many of whom seem held back by rationalization and denial.

And with his background working on Wall Street in the US, and then both in the banking sector and finally as a regulator in Iceland charged with investigating the roots of the crisis, he’s got the unique perspective to see it from both sides.

In the spirit of Michael Lewis and his books like Liar’s Poker and The Big Short, Bibler makes Iceland’s Secret a rollicking ride, a financial thriller as the story unspools, which also provides a deep look into Iceland’s history and culture. The book is divided into three major sections with over thirty chapters, which move the plot along briskly while still containing sufficient detail to allow you to understand what’s a rather complicated scheme. A true page-turner, with compelling characters and vivid descriptions of the beauty and foreboding aspects of “The Land.” I hope the book gets turned into a movie, because it’s a story that’s tailor-made for the big screen.

[Josh Gagliardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insider details on how financial crimes work (and don't) and are ultimately prosecuted (or aren't). Iceland is unique in a lot of ways but there's no question some CEOs and bankers and lawyers are pulling the same shady crap everywhere they can - very interesting to see how it's actually pulled off. This is a great counterpoint to stories about the Panama Papers and Pandora Papers - instead of just seeing footprints and names, you can see how shell companies were actually used to manipulate markets and enrich directors end-to-end. Some of the Icelandic names are a stumbling block, but just remember that (as the author points out) they retain two letters "th" and "dth" that English dropped long ago and keep reading - the asides about language are enjoyable as well.

[Manatee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an extraordinarily well-written book. Jared's style is informative, funny, and personal. He manages to make all these financial transactions interesting and fast-paced. Somewhere in the book, a manager says "Banks don't commit crimes. People commit crimes." Jared brings this idea home in so many ways by documenting all these underhanded transactions committed by average people who happen to manage funds and banks.

In addition to reading an exciting drama about banking, the reader will learn all about Icelandic culture and their wonderful sense of hospitality and egalitarianism as well as a part of the society that admires and rewards craftiness.

Jared also discusses the long-term effects on Icelandic society. Iceland has had to rely more heavily on tourism as a source of revenue and the charming book stores and coffee shops of Rekyavik have been replaced by souvenir shops selling stuffed animal puffins. Average families have been priced out of the center of the city and whole neighborhoods are made up of nothing but Air Bnbs.
Also, a sense of trust that was so much part of the national character has faded.

He also has a knack for untangling complicated transactions and laying them out in simple, easy-to-follow language.

I was really surprised at how much I liked this book. It's a really satisfying read even for people who aren't particularly interested in Finance.

[Eric Giroux · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was terrific, a wild ride through the white-hot rise and calamitous fall of Iceland's economy, which in many ways presaged what happened worldwide only a few short seasons later. At the same time, this is also an appealing personal chronicle of the author's colorful and often harrowing initiation into Icelandic culture and history, during the good times (shopping binges on trips to America when the exchange rate is fantastic) and the bad (these pages contain what is most likely the most vivid description ever of a horsemeat-sausage meal). Appealingly, the author also folds in Icelandic literature (the country's renowned sagas) and its political history and norms (including the Althing, the world's most ancient functioning democratic institution, and a deeply rooted egalitarianism that produces, along with many good social benefits and a progressive tax structure, a rampant copycat consumerism)--not merely as background, but to help account for the economic predicament he describes with great precision and clarity in the later chapters. A compelling account by the man whose dogged, public-spirited investigation first uncovered and exposed Iceland's secret to the world.

[Duane Hudgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a real page-turner with a compelling narrative. It’s a fish out of water story, David versus Goliath and a crime mystery of epic scale all rolled into one. The reader follows along with Jared Bibler, an American, as he arrives in the “land of ice and snow” to start a new job in the banking sector. As he settles in it isn’t long until he finds himself at the ground zero of a financial collapse of nuclear proportions, erasing the pensions and savings of nearly every Icelandic citizen. Through luck or destiny Bibler is hired by the hopelessly understaffed Icelandic financial regulator to investigate the financial maleficence of the three major Icelandic banks. A case the equivalent of three Enrons in a land 1/1000th the US population. The reader follows Bibler through his discoveries until the present day, where we are left to question where parallels to Iceland can be found in the rest of the world right now. It’s a cautionary tale and a wake-up call fully relevant to our current financial climate.

The writing is very relatable and accessible. It doesn’t venture off into financial techno-babble. Especially worth a read to observe how people incrementally drift into white collar crime through one self-serving rationalization after another.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I vaguely remember that there was a major financial crisis in Iceland a decade or so ago. However, I had no idea of the magnitude of the problem or the devastation that it brought (and continues to bring) to the country and its populace. This book is a fascinating look into that scandal and the avarice and corruption that caused it to occur. I admit that a good portion of the financial dealings were above my head but I was fascinated by this real life con story. I think the ending chapters on recommendations and conclusions should be taken very seriously. This is a huge lesson that must be learned. And the note regarding 'blue collar' crime and 'white collar crime' can't be stressed enough.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.

[Julian Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breathtakingly audacious and outrageous, the brief sparkle that Iceland had as a tour de force in world finance, turns out to have been a systemic and endemic con from the very start - and one which frustratingly seems to be of limited interest to regulators and the authorities.

Written like a taught thriller, the author lifts the lid from a unique vantage point, and shows not just what happened, but also how, and why it was permitted.

A sensational read that is so far fetched it can only be true - as you couldn't make it up.

Already recommended this to friends - a great book.

[Mark Norden · Rating 4 out of 5]

After experiencing the fallout from the banking scandals of 2008, it was unbelievable reading Jared Bibler’s personal story in the central role of investigating the financial crime.

Totally awe inspiring the simplicity of their crime and the ongoing belief that they weren’t doing anything wrong.

I listened to the audio version, which is narrated by the author, where his passion, frustration and energy are brought to life.

A must read for anyone who has any interest in financial crimes and investigation.

[Wendy Packard · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a ride. I read a lot of books like this, breaking down scandals and crimes and events that happened, but they are almost always by journalists and therefore at least mostly neutral. This one was written by one of the regulators, for all intents and purposes, he was on the law enforcement side of this crime, so it was a much different view, and he didn't pretend not to be biased. I had no idea that 2008 in Iceland was any worse than any other country, but boy howdy it was! It's a good book, and he is a good storyteller.

[Dan Zwirn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A meticulous, clear exposition of the unmitigated disaster that was the pre-GFC Icelandic banking and financial system by an author who saw who it from the inside as both an internal operations professional and a financial regulator. The book provides a reminder that 14 years of an ‘everything bubble’ created by the Fed and its peers has likely hidden a lurking multitude of to-be-discovered large-scale corporate frauds that will present themselves when the tide of easy money goes out.

[Martin Yau · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and detailed personal insight into how the author's attempts to make Iceland's financial system less corrupt and tackle the root of how the country's three major banks collapsed as a result of market manipulation of their shares. The author makes useful suggestions to the methods that could make financial markets less corrupt.

[BettyBolero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this book on audio which was read by the author who sounded like a bot to me. I wanted some insight into the country and people of Iceland and I did not find much from the American author. I should have stopped listening to it but I was on a long drive and just wanted to finish it because I knew if stopped I would never pick it up again.

[James Fok · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a surprising gem of a book. Part-economic history, part-crime thriller, and part-boy's own adventure, it provides an enthralling account of the abuses and systemic failures that led to one of the most spectacular (but least well-known) of the banking crises of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, and the lived experience of the catastrophic consequences for Iceland's economy. Rare for a finance book, I found myself unable to put it down.

[S Ravishankar · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing tale of the excesses and fraud committed in Iceland that has caused much hardship to its citizens afterwards. The author alerts us to similar brazen deals to subvert economies of much larger countries.

[Valay S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bibler provides a behind-the-scenes look at Iceland's financial collapse in 2008 and its aftermath. Iceland has never truly held responsible more than a minority of the miscreants. Iceland's descent into mass tourism is directly correlated with its financial collapse.

[Baldur Thorsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!!! Such a good overhaul and explanation about the finance crisis that hit Iceland. Was amazing to to read it. Recommend it to everyone who is interested in finance and what happened in Iceland and how the courts system took on the bankers who played with the banks and the system.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative about the banking collapse in Iceland. My only negative comment is that in several places the story feels more like a personal complaint about things that did or didn't happen the author disagrees with and not as an informational account of the issues.

[Crystal Reimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really thorough and hard-hitting analysis of the corruption and failures during the Icelandic banking crisis.

[Rainey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fascinating story. I never thought I'd be interested in criminal bank dealings, but here we are!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting deep-dive into the murky world of Icelandic finance around the time of the 2008 crisis, told by one of the lead investigators.