Iceland's banks swelled to ten times the entire economy, then failed in days

By 2008, Iceland's three largest banks held combined assets roughly ten times national GDP, after years of aggressive overseas expansion funded by foreign deposits. When global credit markets froze, all three collapsed within about a week — relative to its size, the largest banking collapse any country had suffered. Iceland let the banks fail rather than bail them out, and later prosecuted dozens of bankers.

— Standard economic accounts, 2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis — Banks collapsed October 2008