Iceland Crisis

2008-2011

Relative to the size of its economy, the Icelandic banking collapse was the largest experienced by any country in economic history. Iceland became an emblem of the global financial meltdown. The privatized banks were bought by greedy tycoons that went crazy with »innovative finance solutions.« They went on a massive spending spree buying everything from Danish high-end retail stores to British football clubs.

One part of their innovative approach was to offer high interest online bank accounts called Icesave. They ran out of money and defaulted on $62 billion of foreign debt. Thousands of people, pension funds, and municipalities in the UK and the Netherlands lost billions when the banks collapsed.

References:
Wikipedia - 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis