Initial public offerings are not Iceland’s main concern, but among its woes one fact stands out: there has not been a stock market flotation there for 88 weeks.

Although Iceland's equity market has spent the longest period in the deep freeze, in the past three months high volatility has killed any European deals above $100m (€79m) , according to data provider Thomson Reuters. The last time that an IPO raised more than $100m in Europe was on July 22 when Spanish bank Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo raised €292m ($368m) on Bolsa de Madrid.