ICELAND TO PRIVATISE STATE BANK UTVEGSBANKI

  The Icelandic government said it will
  privatise the state-owned bank Utvegsbanki, the country's
  second largest. Parliament also granted an 800 mln crown cash
  infusion to ease cash flow problems that arose when the bank
  lost 600 mln crowns in a shipping firm bankruptcy two years
  ago.
      Utvegsbanki director Halldor Gudbjarnarson told Reuters the
  decision to privatise the bank was a relief and that foreign
  banks had already expressed interest in taking a share.
      A quarter of the one billion crown total share capital will
  be available to foreign investors, government officials said.
  

