Fears for 1,200 Anglo workers in wind-down

UP to 1,200 jobs are under threat with the EU/IMF decision that Anglo Irish Bank is to be wound down in its entirety.

The move, revealed by Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan yesterday, came as a surprise to staff and bank management.

Mr Honohan initially claimed the bank would be closed “within weeks,” but shortly after his interview on RTÉ the Central Bank issued a statement clarifying the remarks by its head, saying Anglo’s restructuring plan would be submitted by the end of January.

“Any wind-down of the loan book of Anglo would however be over a multi-year period as in the current restructuring.

“These measures are designed to provide an orderly resolution for the future of Anglo in a manner that is consistent with EU competition law and agreed with the European Commission,” the statement said.

Anglo chairman Alan Dukes, who had previously said the government and bank management plan to split the organisation in two would go ahead, expressed surprise at the decision to wind it down completely.

An Irish Bank Official Association (IBOA) spokesman said they did not represent workers at the company.

Fine Gael TD Leo Varadkar said; “We are told that there is €6 billion in senior bonds at the bank but there is still confusion as to what is going to happen there. Will senior bondholders take a hit or will the financial pain, once again, be borne by the taxpayer.”