Irish authorities raid Anglo Irish Bank HQ
Posted: 25 February 2009 0401 hrs
A branch of an Anglo Irish Bank is pictured in Belfast
DUBLIN : Police and investigators raided the Dublin headquarters of the recently nationalised Anglo Irish Bank on Tuesday, officials said.
Financial investigators and Garda (police) fraud officers sifted through potential evidence at Anglo Irish, which is engulfed in controversy over corporate governance and was nationalised by the government last month.
The bank's former chairman and chief executive Sean FitzPatrick resigned after admitting he had failed to disclose an 87-million-euro (110-million dollar) loan by moving it in and out of the bank for a period of eight years.
The bank is also being investigated about a loans-for-shares scandal involving a so-called "golden circle" of 10 clients.
Earlier this month, the chief executive and two senior executives of Ireland's biggest mortgage provider Irish Life and Permanent resigned in a row about 8.2 billion euros in cash transfers to Anglo.
Justice Minister Dermot Ahern signalled that the government would pursue banking chiefs involved in any wrongdoing following the raid.
"Legislation is in place to bring to justice those who may have played hard and fast with the financial security of this country," Ahern said in comments quoted by the Irish media.
"We operate the rule of law. As far as I'm concerned, that provides that whether you have a balaclava, a sawn-off shotgun or a white collar and designer suit, the same rules apply."
Enda Kenny, leader of the main opposition Fine Gael party, said that Ireland was now on the brink of a "financial precipice".
"The situation that we now have is another hammer-blow to the credit worthiness of Ireland Inc," he added.
The Financial Regulator, which has some 25 officers on site for the investigation, said one of the things it was investigating was the unwinding of a major contracts for difference (CFD) position in the bank.
CFDs are financial instruments that can be used to facilitate stake-building in a company in secret, as the buyer is not required to make a public disclosure of ownership.
Sean Quinn, one of Ireland's leading businessmen, and his family had built up a 25 percent stake in the bank using CFDs.
He converted 15 percent of his CFD stake into Anglo shares, and the other 10 percent was bought by "longstanding clients".
Quinn has said he and his family sustained losses in excess of a billion euros on its investments in Anglo but denied any impropriety in relation to his share dealings in the bank.
The raid on Anglo was welcomed by the Green Party, the junior partner in Prime Minister Brian Cowen's governing coalition.
"Hopefully today's raid will be the start of the process of bringing people to book," finance spokesman Senator Dan Boyle told RTE state radio.
The Greens have been calling for tough action on alleged misbehavior by bankers.
"In the US we have seen white-collar criminals being led out in handcuffs. I want to see the same regime in this country and I believe we will get such a regime here," party leader John Gormley said last week.
Public anger about the revelations emerging from Anglo boosted a protest last Saturday that saw some 120,000 people take to the streets of Dublin in one of the biggest demonstrations seen in the city for years.
Posted: 25 February 2009 0401 hrs
A branch of an Anglo Irish Bank is pictured in Belfast
DUBLIN : Police and investigators raided the Dublin headquarters of the recently nationalised Anglo Irish Bank on Tuesday, officials said.
Financial investigators and Garda (police) fraud officers sifted through potential evidence at Anglo Irish, which is engulfed in controversy over corporate governance and was nationalised by the government last month.
The bank's former chairman and chief executive Sean FitzPatrick resigned after admitting he had failed to disclose an 87-million-euro (110-million dollar) loan by moving it in and out of the bank for a period of eight years.
The bank is also being investigated about a loans-for-shares scandal involving a so-called "golden circle" of 10 clients.
Earlier this month, the chief executive and two senior executives of Ireland's biggest mortgage provider Irish Life and Permanent resigned in a row about 8.2 billion euros in cash transfers to Anglo.
Justice Minister Dermot Ahern signalled that the government would pursue banking chiefs involved in any wrongdoing following the raid.
"Legislation is in place to bring to justice those who may have played hard and fast with the financial security of this country," Ahern said in comments quoted by the Irish media.
"We operate the rule of law. As far as I'm concerned, that provides that whether you have a balaclava, a sawn-off shotgun or a white collar and designer suit, the same rules apply."
Enda Kenny, leader of the main opposition Fine Gael party, said that Ireland was now on the brink of a "financial precipice".
"The situation that we now have is another hammer-blow to the credit worthiness of Ireland Inc," he added.
The Financial Regulator, which has some 25 officers on site for the investigation, said one of the things it was investigating was the unwinding of a major contracts for difference (CFD) position in the bank.
CFDs are financial instruments that can be used to facilitate stake-building in a company in secret, as the buyer is not required to make a public disclosure of ownership.
Sean Quinn, one of Ireland's leading businessmen, and his family had built up a 25 percent stake in the bank using CFDs.
He converted 15 percent of his CFD stake into Anglo shares, and the other 10 percent was bought by "longstanding clients".
Quinn has said he and his family sustained losses in excess of a billion euros on its investments in Anglo but denied any impropriety in relation to his share dealings in the bank.
The raid on Anglo was welcomed by the Green Party, the junior partner in Prime Minister Brian Cowen's governing coalition.
"Hopefully today's raid will be the start of the process of bringing people to book," finance spokesman Senator Dan Boyle told RTE state radio.
The Greens have been calling for tough action on alleged misbehavior by bankers.
"In the US we have seen white-collar criminals being led out in handcuffs. I want to see the same regime in this country and I believe we will get such a regime here," party leader John Gormley said last week.
Public anger about the revelations emerging from Anglo boosted a protest last Saturday that saw some 120,000 people take to the streets of Dublin in one of the biggest demonstrations seen in the city for years.
