US hedge fund challenges Anglo plan

A US hedge fund that holds $200 million (€148.2m) of bonds in Anglo Irish Bank issued to investors in 2005 has filed papers with a New York court challenging the rights of the bank and of the Government to proceed with the sale of Anglo’s assets and to merge the remainder of the business with Irish Nationwide.

Fir Tree Capital’s submission also demanded Anglo be prevented by the New York courts from interfering in anyway with the €10.7 billion in assets held by the collapsed bank in the US.

Fir Tree’s case is that Anglo is governed by US law in relation to the €200m bond transaction and claims that under US law, Anglo is obliged to pay down its debt in full.