Quick Anglo wind-down would cost at least €40bn

THE cost of winding down Anglo Irish Bank, over a 12-month period, would amount to at least €40 billion, a Dáil Committee has heard.

That would mean that on top of the €22bn of Government/taxpayer money already earmarked for the loss-making bank, another €20bn would be needed to close it permanently.

The estimate came from the bank’s chief financial officer, Maarten Van Eden, in response to a question from the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and Public Service, yesterday and effectively backs up the Government’s previous claims that a wind-down of the bank would be too costly.