ECB ‘insisted’ taxpayers repaid Anglo debts

The ECB has officially acknowledged that it insisted on Irish taxpayers repaying all the €31bn owed to Anglo Irish bondholders to protect Europe’s banks.

Jörg Asmussen, one of the six members of the bank’s executive board, admitted this in an aside during a speech he gave in Dublin last week.

However, the formal version of his speech on the ECB’s website only mentioned the need to “ensure no negative spillover effects” to Irish banks.