Boucher in battle to save BoI from the State
Bank of Ireland now has just 29 days to save itself from state takeover. Cue the music from Mission Impossible? Or has the bank got a viable future?
Ireland's oldest bank, Bank of Ireland, has a month to live -- unless it can come up with the €1.5bn it desperately needs to keep its head above water.
This capital target, which arose from rules set by the Financial Regulator last November, must be hit by the end of February. Otherwise Bank of Ireland will become the fifth Irish bank to be taken over by the State.
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With so much uncertainty about what Bank of Ireland's balance sheet will look like in a few months -- or indeed this time next year, private investors are likely to be few and far between if a rights issue is launched.
The Government, which already owns 36 per cent of Bank of Ireland, is likely to be the only investor around to buy more shares, so a state takeover of the bank seems inevitable under a rights issue.
Ronan Reid, executive chairman of Dolmen Securities, said that although he believes Bank of Ireland is "in the best position of the Irish banks", its chances of raising the €1.5bn it needs to avoid state ownership by the end of February are slim.
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Both the Government and Bank of Ireland have been doing their utmost to avoid a State takeover. In the run-up to Christmas, John Bruton and the National Treasury Management Agency are understood to have visited the Middle East to try entice investors there into the Irish banks. BoI has also reportedly held discussions with a number of Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. With a wealthy sheikh yet to raise his head, however, it appears those efforts have fallen on deaf ears.
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"Bank of Ireland needs to find an instrument that allows the Government to invest in the bank without becoming a majority shareholder," says McCarthy. "A hybrid debt instrument which can be converted into equity is probably the best way of doing that. It will be very difficult for the bank to try to raise that €1.5bn by traditional means."
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Boucher in battle to save BoI from the State - Irish, Business - Independent.ie
, dovrebbero lasciar defoltare il Portogallo.
E poi l'Italia, ad infinitum 
