Anglo Irish Bank: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 12:42, 21 July 2009
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| Company type | State-owned |
|---|---|
| Founded | Dublin, Ireland (1964) |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
| Products | Various banking products, worthless shares etc. |
Number of employees | 1500 (2006) |
| Website | www.angloirishbank.ie |
Anglo Irish Bank Corporation (Irish: Banc Angla-Éireannach) is a bank based in Ireland and with its headquarters in Dublin. The company mainly deals in business and commercial banking, with the result that it has only a limited retail presence in the major Irish cities. It also has wealth management and treasury divisions. Anglo-Irish has operations in Austria, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Isle of Man. The company made €1.2bn in the financial year Sep. 2006–Sep. 2007. Anglo Irish Bank's heavy exposure to property lending, with most of its €72bn loan book being mainly to builders and property developers, meant that it was badly affected by the downturn in the Irish property market in 2008.[1]
In December 2008, the Irish government announced plans to inject €1.5bn of capital for a 75% stake in the bank, effectively nationalising it.[2] On 15 January 2009, the Government of Ireland announced that recapitalization of the bank was no longer viable and instead fully nationalised the bank.[3] The Dublin and London Stock Exchanges immediately suspended trading in Anglo Irish's shares, with the final closing share price of €0.22 representing a fall of over 98% from its peak.[4][5][6] On 16 January 2009, the Taoiseach Brian Cowen stated that is was 'business as usual' at Anglo Irish Bank and that people should be reassured that the bank is solvent.[7] A new board is to be put in place under a new chairman, Donal O'Connor.[5]
History
- 1964 – Anglo Irish Bank was established in Dublin.
- 1971 – Anglo Irish listed on the stock exchange.
- 1988 – Anglo Irish acquired Irish Bank of Commerce.
- 1995 – Anglo Irish acquired Royal Trust Bank (Austria), a bank with a 100 year history, from Royal Bank of Canada and renamed it Anglo Irish Bank (Austria). Anglo Irish also acquired a loan portfolio from Allied Dunbar.
- 1996 – Anglo Irish acquired Ansbacher Bankers, which was established in Dublin in 1950.
- 1998 – Anglo Irish acquired Credit Lyonnais (Austria) and combined it with its existing Austrian operations.
- 1999 – Anglo Irish acquired Smurfit Paribas Bank, a joint-venture that Banque Paribas had helped establish in Dublin in 1983. Anglo – Irish also bought a loan portfolio from Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank.
- 2001 – Anglo Irish acquired Banque Marcuard Cook & Cie. in Geneva, Switzerland, and renamed it Anglo Irish Bank (Suisse).
- 2005 – Chief Executive Seán FitzPatrick stepped down to assume the role of chairman. David Drumm replaced him as CEO.
- 2007 – In January, it was reported that Seán Quinn bought a 5% stake of Anglo Irish Bank for $750 million. In July 2008 Quinn converted investments in the bank to ordinary shares, increasing his family's stake to 15%.
- 2008 – In December, both FitzPatrick, the Chairman, and Drumm, the CEO, resigned (see below).
- 2009 – The Irish Government nationalised Anglo Irish Bank at which point the Irish Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange delisted the bank. On 19 January the Board of Directors resigned to allow the Government to appoint a new board. Reportedly there is evidence that members of the board were part of a so-called Golden Circle.
Loans to Directors Scandal
Chairman Sean FitzPatrick, CEO David Drumm, and board member Lars Bradshaw resigned in December, following the revelation of a loan scandal. FitzPatrick and Bradshaw had taken out loans in order to purchase Anglo Irish shares. From 2000–2008, FitzPatrick transferred the loans to another bank prior to year-end audits, thereby causing "Loans to Directors" to be understated. In 2008, the loan to FitzPatrick and Bradshaw amounted to €87 million; the transfer resulted in the accounts showing only about €40 million outstanding to directors, instead of €150 million. The Financial Regulator revealed that he became aware of problems surrounding loans from Anglo Irish Bank to FitzPatrick, following an inspection earlier in 2008. The regulator said, "While it does not appear that anything illegal took place in relation to these loans, the Financial Regulator was of the view that the practices surrounding these loans were not appropriate. As a result, we continued to monitor and investigate this and as part of this process we advised Anglo-Irish Bank to ensure that these loans are reported in the annual accounts for 2008."[8] The Financial Regulator resigned in January 2009 under pressure to do so.[9]
In February 2009, Gardaí from the Bureau of Fraud Investigation raided the offices of Anglo Irish Bank.[10][11]
See also
References
- ^ "One-trick commercial loan lender came unstuck". Irish Independent. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ^ "Ireland pours €5.5bn into banking sector and takes control of Anglo Irish". The Daily Telegraph. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ^ "Government nationalises 'fragile' Anglo Irish Bank". The Irish Times. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
- ^ "Govt to take control of Anglo Irish Bank". RTÉ News. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
- ^ a b "State takes over Anglo Irish Bank". Irish Independent. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ^ "Irish bank set to be nationalised". BBC News. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ^ "'Business as usual' at Anglo Irish - Cowen". RTÉ News. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ^ "Anglo Irish bank chief quits after hiding £87m loans". The Belfast Telegraph. 19 December 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ^ "More calls for Neary to go, so why hasn't banks chief resigned yet?". Evening Herald. 15 October 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
- ^ Gardaí search Anglo Irish Bank offices, RTE News, 24 February 2009, retrieved 24 February 2009.
- ^ Gardaí raid offices of Anglo Irish Bank in Dublin, The Irish Times, Breaking News, 24 February 2009, retrieved 24 February 2009.