Cowen: Anglo wind-down would cost €70bn

AN immediate wind-down of Anglo Irish Bank would cost €70 billion and was not in the interest of the Irish taxpayer, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said yesterday.

“The idea that it could be wound up, with us having to come up with upfront costs of €70bn, wouldn’t be in the interests of the taxpayer,” he said.

Anglo posted losses of €8.2bn for the first six months of this year, pushing losses for the 21 months to end June 2010 to a staggering €20.9bn.