A HUDDERSFIELD man who had £200,000 invested in an Icelandic bank was last night named in the Commons as a victim of the financial crisis.

David Speed, of Farnley Tyas, is one of up to 2,000 Britons with savings in Icelandic banks on the Isle of Man and Guernsey.

Labour MP Mary Creagh told the Commons that Mr Speed and the others had held personal accounts in Kaupthing Singer Friedlander on the Isle of Man (KSF IOM).

The Wakefield MP, whose area covers parts of Kirklees, said the Manx government had now agreed to cover deposits of up to £50,000 after the Iceland bank’s collapse.

But, unlike the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the UK, there was no money “in the pot”, Ms Creagh said.

Mr Speed recently sold his business and put £200,000 of the proceeds into a one-year bond with KSF IOM on the recommendation of his accountant.

He now has a capital gains tax bill to pay and has no cash to settle it.

Any payments made were likely to be stretched out over many years, which would not help elderly savers who had lost everything.

Ms Creagh also told of 60-year-old Katy Watt, who was required to open an Isle of Man bank account after moving to the island five years ago.

She decided to retire to Wakefield this summer and put all her life savings, including the proceeds of her house sale, into a KSF IOM account.

In October, amid rumours of collapse in the banking system, Miss Watt decided to move her money into her UK-based account.

Ms Creagh said: “She contacted the bank again and was told the money had left her account. It never arrived in her UK account.

“Her money is lost in the clearing system. Many other people who sought to move their money out have lost these funds in transit.”

Ms Creagh urged ministers to meet representatives of the depositors to allow them to put their case.

She said: “I cannot overestimate the stress these people are experiencing. Their lives are in limbo, their plans are on hold. Their futures are uncertain.”

Economic Secretary Ian Pearson said the problem with Icelandic banks did not originate in the UK but in the Icelandic banking system.

He added: “While the Government understands that many people have been affected by the failure of Icelandic banks, oversight of overseas accounts is the responsibility of the relevant regulatory authority in that jurisdiction.”

He told Ms Creagh he would ask Treasury officials to meet her.