Iceland's finance minister approved a bank sale his father bought into, then quit

The Icelandic state sold a 22.5% stake in Íslandsbanki in March 2022. When the investor list was published in April 2022, it showed that Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson's father, Benedikt Sveinsson, had bought shares through his company Hafsilfur; Benediktsson said he had no idea beforehand (Grapevine). On 10 October 2023 Iceland's Parliamentary Ombudsman (Umboðsmaður Alþingis) issued an opinion that Benediktsson was not qualified, because of lack of impartiality, to approve the state bank-sales agency's proposal for the sale (RÚV). Benediktsson said he had a clear conscience and that much in the opinion seemed questionable to him, but that he respected the conclusion; he resigned as finance minister the same day (RÚV).