The West Midlands’ transport authority looks set to lose around £800,000 in a failed Iceland bank account, it has emerged.
Centro revealed last year that they invested £4million in a subsidiary of the crashed Landsbank and has now said it can only hope to recover £3.2million.
The transport authority maintains the money was in reserve funds and would not impact on operations.
A Centro spokeswoman said: “A report has been issued by the Statutory Administrator Ernst & Young in which they have indicated that money will be paid over the next few years and they estimate that, in total, this will be £3.2million in regards to Centro.”
Speaking at a meeting of the transport authority, Centro treasurer James Aspinall said: “It has been indicated that we might get back some of the money by the summer and the rest of the money afterwards and we will keep members updated.”
The Icelandic banking crisis arose last October. A Government inquiry at the time defended local authorities who invested in Iceland banks and they also pledged to work to get the money back.
The Local Government Association was lobbying for the recovery of more than £900million of local authority investments tied up in Iceland’s failed banks including £9million from Wyre Forest Borough councils.
In a report presented to Centro, Mr Aspinall stated the Local Government Association (LGA) had set up a support network to act on behalf of all affected authorities. The LGA will indicate in a report this month what dividend prospects will be available and Mr Aspinall will report back to Centro at that time.
Vice chairman of Centro Len Clark said: “The good news is that we will be looking to get some of that money returned to us.”
