LONDON (AP) — Britain opened an investigation Wednesday into suspected fraud by collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing, a move that could re-ignite diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

The Serious Fraud Office said it is particularly interested in efforts by the bank to attract British investors to its "high yield" deposit account, Kaupthing Edge.

"The investigation will seek to identify whether misrepresentations or false representations were communicated by the bank in the push to attract UK investors," the SFO said in a statement.

Investigators will also look closely at the series of decisions that "appear to have allowed substantial value to be extracted from the bank in the weeks and days prior to its collapse", the agency added.

The potential offences fall under the remit of Britain's Fraud Act, but the SFO said the investigation crosses numerous jurisdictions and that it plans to work with the Icelandic Special Prosecutor's Office.

The SFO estimates that more than 30,000 British individuals, companies and organizations invested in the Kaupthing Edge account. Kaupthing hf. was one of several Icelandic banks to collapse at the height of the global credit crisis last October.

But its demise sparked a political row between Reyjkavik and London because Kaupthing failed after the British government invoked anti-terrorist legislation to freeze the UK assets of another collapsed Icelandic bank, Landsbanki.

Britain's Treasury said the move was necessary to ensure the money that British savers had placed in the bank would not be whisked back to Iceland.