New chairman says sorry to 'outraged' customers
Related Articles
THE newly appointed executive chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, Donal O'Connor, yesterday apologised again for the impact of the disclosures of loans to the disgraced former chairman and chief executive Sean FitzPatrick.
"I acknowledge again the sense of hurt, outrage and disappointment that people feel towards the bank following disclosures regarding loans to the former chairman and other matters," he said in a letter introducing the company's annual report for the year ended September 2008.
Mr O'Connor, who was appointed as chairman of the board in December of last year, following a stint as chairman of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, also confirmed that he is now executive chairman of the bank and a new chief executive will not be appointed until a new business plan and a number of reviews by the board are completed.
Former chief executive David Drumm resigned from the now-nationalised bank along with a slew of directors following the controversy over concealed directors' loans, which emerged last December.
Resignation
The emergence of the concealment of tens of millions of euro led to Mr FitzPatrick's immediate resignation and that of his fellow former director Lar Bradshaw.
Mr O'Connor, who is also a former senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), said: "On behalf of the bank I sincerely apologise to our customers, employees, shareholders and other stakeholders in the situation." In a reference to the now infamous 'Anglo 10', who were loaned €451m for a stake in the bank last July, he said that there had been a lot of comment and speculation regarding Anglo's share transactions that took place in 2008.
"In accordance with established banking practice it would would be wrong for the bank to comment on any transactions or dealings with any specific customer in the bank," he said.
He added that in the normal course of business, the bank advances funds to customers for the purpose of investing in listed equities, and the board had engaged advisers and legal specialists to asses all transactions, mentioning the "detailed legal advice" that the bank received and the extent of the bank's consultation with financial authorities.
Collapsed
Shares in Anglo, a commercial lender widely exposed to the property sector, collapsed last year as the credit crunch bit and eventually it was taken into government control.
Mr O'Connor singled out the effect of the collapse of Lehman Brothers on global financial markets in September and the unprecedented events in subsequent weeks, which included the €440bn Government guarantee scheme.
Mr O'Connor said Anglo was determined to emerge from its current difficulties as a strong and viable finance house that taxpayers could be proud of.
"Most importantly, we will strive to conduct all our business to the highest ethical and corporate governance standards. This is key to rebuilding trust and confidence in Anglo Irish Bank," he said.
He added that fees for non-executive directors of the bank had been cut by 20pc from January 1 this year.
- Ailish O'Hora
