There are good and bad ways to present yourself on the world stage. The senior bankers and the finance minister of Iceland provide a lesson in how to do it right. Iceland has been under attack by analysts for its large current account deficit, rising external debt, overheating economy and overvalued currency. Earlier this year, a critical Fitch report sent the markets into a tailspin as investors reacted to the negative comments made by sovereign analyst Paul Rawkins. The banks themselves are under pressure for their rapid expansion and exposure to the stock and housing markets.
The knee-jerk reaction when under fire is to get all defensive, insult your critics and carry on regardless. It would have been easy for Iceland to take this approach. Instead, four senior Icelandic executives, as well as the finance minister Arni Mathiesen, made the trip from Reykjavik to London to face down their sternest critics at a Banker round table (see page 56).
