Anglo: ‘External checks would still fail to spot Anglo scandal’

Despite a seven-year economic crash which brought the country to its knees, the scandals at Anglo Irish Bank and other firms in 2008 would still go undetected today because crucial auditing and accounting rules have yet to be updated.

The claim was made by UCD expert Prof Eamon Walsh during the latest meeting of the cross-party Oireachtas banking inquiry yesterday.

Responding to concerns over how auditors at the time failed to realise the banks were in serious danger before the blanket guarantee in September 2008, the academic said if the same problems were occurring now the external checks would still find Anglo to be on course to make a profit.