US bank and law firm key to FitzPatrick case

The role that Morgan Stanley and the law firm Matheson played in the ‘Maple Ten’ share transaction will form a key part of the case taken by the DPP against former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick and two directors.

The stakes are high for Morgan Stanley, in particular. The US investment bank was the broker to Anglo Irish Bank at the time of the share transaction. It is believed it was not retained by Anglo in an advisory role in the Maple Ten deal — it was hired on an execute-only basis.

However, if it knew or suspected that the Maple Ten share purchase transaction was some form of market abuse or share price manipulation, then it was legally obliged to inform the Irish Financial Regulator as well as the UK’s Financial Services Authority, and the Securities and Exchange Commission in New York, as Anglo was listed in both countries.