Ireland to split Anglo, wind-down business
Wednesday September 08, 2010 05:24:14 AM GMT
IRELAND-BANKS/ANGLO (URGENT)
DUBLIN, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Ireland's government will split nationalised lender Anglo Irish Bank [ANGIB.UL] into a funding bank and an asset recovery bank to wind down its assets over an unspecified period of time, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.
Under the plans, the funding bank will not engage in any new business, simply providing a home for Anglo's depositors -- contrary to Anglo management's own plans for a niche business lender.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said the asset recovery bank would be a licensed bank focused on working out Anglo's remaining soured property loans while the funding bank would be a specialist deposit bank to house Anglo's deposits.
"It will be a stand-alone, regulated bank, completely separated from Anglo's loan assets and it will be owned directly by the Minister for Finance," Lenihan said of the funding bank in a statement.
He did not specify how long it would take to wind Anglo down.
The guaranteed position of depositors will be unchanged, he said.
(Reporting by Dublin bureau; editing by Patrick Graham)