Debt audit criticises bondholder secrecy

THE secrecy surrounding the identity of bondholders lending to both the state and the banks has been criticised in a new report by an accounting and finance lecturer in the University of Limerick.

Dr Sheila Killian said there has been “constructive ambiguity” or “fudging” surrounding the bank bailout.

In a report, An Audit of Irish Debt, published on a left-wing website claims to provide an explanation of the €92 billion in debt for which taxpayers have become responsible. It states that 99.74% of the debt registers is occupied by Euroclear, an international clearing house in Brussels which “maintains a register of nominee accounts that does not reveal the identity of investors holding Irish Government bonds”.