Anglo Irish Bank hidden loans controversy

FitzPatrick subsequently resigned his position and was followed within twenty-four hours by the bank's non-executive director, Lar Bradshaw and chief executive, David Drumm.

[1] A new chairman of Anglo, Donal O'Connor, was quickly appointed from the board, a move welcomed by the Irish Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan.

Lenihan instead unexpectedly announced the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank the night before the EGM due to difficulties he encountered with the recapitalisation process.

FitzPatrick, instead of revealing the true figures of his loans, transferred some of them to the Irish Nationwide Building Society, returning them to Anglo at a later date.

The Chief Executive of the Financial Regulator said that "a lay person would expect that issues of this nature and this magnitude would have been picked up" by the external auditors, Ernst & Young.

Ireland's Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan welcomed the appointment of a new chairman, Donal O'Connor, an official with a substantial commercial track record, saying he "seems a natural choice" for the role.

[15] On the evening of 19 December, Drumm announced he would step down with immediate effect, but said he will continue to work with the chairman through a transition phase until a replacement chief executive is agreed upon.

[16] It is appropriate for me to step down today given last evening's announcement in relation to the resignation of Seán FitzPatrick and given the strong statement of support for the Bank and its recapitalisation programme by the Minister for Finance.

[18] On 15 January 2009 the Government of Ireland nationalised[19][20] Anglo Irish Bank and its shares were suspended on the Dublin and London Stock Exchanges.

[23] Neary's weakness in dealing with the issue has received much criticism, with Green Party Senator Dan Boyle calling for a strengthening of powers within the organisation and saying that confidence in Irish financial services had been eroded by events of the previous six months.

[25] The Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton called for the board and senior management of the Financial Regulator to be sacked.

The Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (CARB) undertook an investigation into the "circumstances around the issue of inappropriate directors' loans at Anglo Irish"and into the performance of Ernst and Young.

[33] The Irish Association of Investment Managers expressed how it was "surprised and disappointed" at the controversy and announced it would be writing to Anglo's new chairman to describe its worries.

[37][38] Lenihan stated that "clear blue water" had been inserted between the old and new versions of Anglo and defended the nationalisation by saying that if the government were to let the bank fail it would be saying to Ireland and other economies that the country was "closed for business".

During the Seanad's debate on the bill, Senator Shane Ross claimed that "no-one was being told the truth about Anglo Irish Bank" and called the EGM of the previous Friday "a disgrace show[ing] corporate Ireland at its worst, as there were no answers to any questions".

Senator Joe O'Toole advocated the chasing of those responsible for the bank's nationalisation "even into the courts", saying that a person could be imprisoned for failure to pay a household bill, yet those who caused the loss of jobs and pensions might not.

[48] On 12 February 2009, details of a further controversial transaction which had the effect of misrepresenting the end-of-year accounts of Anglo-Irish Bank came into the public domain.

[49] On 17 February, Taoiseach Brian Cowen informed Dáil Éireann of his knowledge of a group of ten wealthy businessmen who had come together to buy shares in Anglo Irish Bank in 2008 in a transaction which is now at the centre of an investigation by the Office of Corporate Enforcement.

[51] The mystery has been discussed in Dáil Éireann since its revelation, with Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and Green Party leader John Gormley calling for the names to be made public if a legal way of doing so could be found.

[59] On 23 July 2012 the Irish Independent identified the ten members of the golden circle as Belfast-born developer Paddy McKillen, Mennolly Homes's Seamus Ross, auctioneer Brian O'Farrell, John McCabe of McCabe Builders, developer Gerry Maguire, Belfast's Patrick Kearney, Gerry Gannon of Gannon Homes who had a stake in the K Club Ryder Cup golf resort, Kildare businessman Jerry Conlan, Sean Reilly of the McGarrell Reilly firm and developer Joe O'Reilly.

[60] On 24 February 2009, members of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation executed a District Court warrant at the headquarters of Anglo Irish Bank on St Stephen's Green, Dublin.