Anglo Irish Bank

Not to be confused with Allied Irish Banks.

Anglo Irish Bank
Company typeState-owned
Founded1964 (1964)
Defunct1 July 2011 (2011-07-01)
HeadquartersDublin, Ireland
Key people
Sean FitzPatrick (former chairman), Alan Dukes (post-nationalisation chairman), Mike Aynsley (post-nationalisation group CEO)
Number of employees
0 (July 2011); 1500 (2006)
Websitewww.ibrc.ie

Anglo Irish Bank was an Irish bank headquartered in Dublin from 1964 to 2011.[1] It began to wind down after nationalisation in 2009.[2] In July 2011 Anglo Irish merged with the Irish Nationwide Building Society, forming a new company named the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. Michael Noonan, the Minister for Finance stated that the name change was important in order to remove "the negative international references associated with the appalling failings of both institutions and their previous managements".[3]

Anglo Irish mainly dealt in business and commercial banking, and had only a limited retail presence in the major Irish cities. It also had wealth management and treasury divisions. Anglo Irish had operations in Austria, Switzerland, the Isle of Man, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The bank's heavy exposure to property lending, with most of its loan book being to builders and property developers, meant that it was badly affected by the downturn in the Irish property market in 2008.[4] In December 2008, the Irish government announced plans to inject €1.5 billion of capital for a 75% stake in the bank, effectively nationalising it.[5][6] 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.[7][8][9]

On 16 January 2009 the then Taoiseach Brian Cowen stated that it was "business as usual" at Anglo Irish Bank, and people should be reassured that the bank is solvent.[10] Between June and September 2009, the Minister for Finance provided €4 billion in capital. In a statement on 30 March 2010, a day before Anglo Irish Bank reported its financial results, the Minister of Finance Brian Lenihan announced an injection of €8.3 billion into the bank, noting that a further €10 billion may be required at a later stage to cover future losses and ensure an adequate capital base.

Since the nationalization of Anglo Irish Bank a number of controversies have arisen over certain business practices and loans, including loans to directors and loans to people associated with Brendan Murtagh, EMPG, and the QUINN group.

On 31 March 2010 Anglo Irish Bank reported results for the 15 months to December 2009. Losses for the period were €12.7 billion, with an operating profit before impairment of €2.4 billion and an impairment charges of €15.1 billion driving the overall result. It is the largest loss in Irish corporate history.[11] Total assets declined to €85.2 billion at the end of 2009 from €101.3 billion in September 2008.

The European Commission allowed the Irish government on 10 August 2010 to temporarily grant €10 billion to Anglo Irish Bank – this included an additional €1.4 billion sought by Ireland to allow the nationalised bank meet its regulatory capital requirements in light of increased costs associated with transferring loans to the National Asset Management Agency.[12][13]

In 2011 the accounts for UK savers were moved to the Allied Irish Bank (GB).[citation needed]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference recLoss was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Anglo Irish bank reports loss". RTÉ News. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  3. ^ Transfer Order in relation to Irish Nationwide Building Society and Anglo Irish Bank Archived 3 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine – Irish Department of Finance, 1 July 2011
  4. ^ One-trick commercial loan lender came unstuck
  5. ^ Ireland pours €5.5bn into banking sector and takes control of Anglo Irish
  6. ^ Government nationalises 'fragile' Anglo Irish Bank>
  7. ^ Govt to take control of Anglo Irish Bank Archived 16 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine>
  8. ^ State takes over Anglo Irish Bank>
  9. ^ Irish bank set to be nationalised>
  10. ^ 'Business as usual' at Anglo Irish – Cowen Archived 17 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine>
  11. ^ Anglo Irish Bank posts Ireland's biggest ever loss- Reuters.com accessed 2010-07-07
  12. ^ 3rd recapitalization grant for Anglo-Irish Archived 19 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine>
  13. ^ Anglo funding may top EUR24bn>