Bondholder debt could cost banks extra €460m

If the Government loses an appeal against a UK high court ruling, Irish banks will owe bondholders an extra €460m, documents released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal.

Department of Finance officials noted that the Assenagon judgment — which found that the method used to burn Anglo Irish Bank bondholders was illegal — created an “unhelpful precedent”.

The documents show the Government did everything in its power to strike a deal with Assenagon before Justice Briggs made his ruling, in an effort to avoid legal precedent.