Iceland: The Icelandic government said yesterday that it has taken control of the struggling Glitnir bank, the first major banking nationalisation for the country in the current crisis.

The government said it bought a 75% stake in Glitnir, the country's third largest bank, for 600m (£478m) to ensure market stability after it suffered liquidity issues.

Central Bank of Iceland chairman David Oddsson said that Glitnir, which has operations in 10 countries, would have collapsed if the authorities had not intervened.

The government said the bank would continue to operate as normal.