The Big Bailout of the Eurozone (Another crisis coming? - Seriously)

[orangeman]

Letter from today's Indo - How true!

Tuesday January 20 2009

Bertie got us into this awful mess

IT'S time the finger was pointed at the real culprit of the mess in which we find ourselves -- Bertie.

His tent at the Galway races. His developer mates, selling tenement rooms to young couples for a half million euro, no control over the amount of sub-standard houses built by imported labour.

Estates built around the country in the middle of nowhere, not even a corner shop within miles.

The lies and deceit of Bertie and his ministers. Thousands of euro wasted on make-up alone for this clown; and he's still been driven around like he was Lord Muck. When will the Irish people wake up to this dosser and his mates?

Time for the people to demand the democratic republic we deserve instead of the corrupt one we have.

He'll be president in a couple of years for God's sake !!!!!!!! 

[Declan]

Anyone see our esteemed Minister of Finance on Prime Time last night? What a joke. Who is he trying to fool by saying Anglo's book is fine and that the directors loans was the issue that brought the bank down? It was in its hole. . Does he think we're all stupid? Also where the hell is Cowen in all this? Leadership me arse. Isn't Bertie still a TD? The architect of it all hiding in the shadows. Give me strength

[Hound]

Anyone see our esteemed Minister of Finance on Prime Time last night? What a joke. Who is he trying to fool by saying Anglo's book is fine and that the directors loans was the issue that brought the bank down? It was in its hole. . Does he think we're all stupid? Also where the hell is Cowen in all this? Leadership me arse. Isn't Bertie still a TD? The architect of it all hiding in the shadows. Give me strength

Surely somebody called him on this?
I don't know who was presenting or who was on the panel, but anybody who didnt call him a fool is either a fool themselves or has no balls. If thats exactly what Lenihan said.

[Declan]

Any chance we could get this guy to talk to the 2 Brians?

US financial losses from the credit crisis may reach $3.6 trillion, suggesting the banking system is "effectively insolvent," said New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini, who predicted last year's economic crisis.
"I've found that credit losses could peak at a level of $3.6tn for US institutions, half of them by banks and broker dealers," Roubini said at a conference in Dubai yesterday.
"If that's true, it means the US banking system is effectively insolvent because it starts with a capital of $1.4tn. This is a systemic banking crisis."
Losses and writedowns at financial companies worldwide have risen to more than $1tn since the US subprime mortgage market collapsed in 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
President Barack Obama will have to use as much as $1tn of public funds to shore up the capitalisation of the banking sector, following the $350bn injection by the Bush administration, said Roubini. Congress last year approved a $700bn rescue fund, of which half remains to be disbursed.
Bank of America, the largest US bank by assets, posted a quarterly loss of $1.79bn last week, its first since 1991, and received $138bn in emergency government funds. Citigroup posted an $8.29bn fourth-quarter loss, completing its worst year, and plans to split in two under boss Vikram Pandit's plan to rebuild a capital base eroded by the credit crisis.
"The problems of Citi, Bank of America and others suggest the system is bankrupt," Roubini said. "In Europe, it's the same thing."
Stocks in Europe, Canada and Brazil dropped yesterday on speculation that government efforts to shore up the financial industry will fail to stem the deepening global recession.
The UK's RBS said it expects to post a loss of as much as £28bn for 2008 and the government got ready to raise its stake in the lender.
Oil prices will trade between $30 and $40 a barrel all year, Roubini predicted.
"I see commodities falling overall another 15-20pc ," Roubini said. "This outlook for commodity prices is beneficial for oil importers, it's going to imply that economic recovery might occur faster, but for oil exporters this will be very negative.

[orangeman]

Meetings being held at Terex Finlay, Dungannon and Omagh this morning - layoffs expected. Hopefully it won't be real bad news.

[orangeman]

Engineering firm is to lay off 90 

The engineering company is based in Dungannon
A County Tyrone engineering company has said it is to make 90 people redundant following a drop in orders.

Powerscreen, which is based in Dungannon, had already made 70 workers redundant at the end of 2008.

Powerscreen, which manufactures mobile screening equipment used in the construction, mining and recycling industries employs 490 staff.

The announcement follows a review of global operations by Powerscreen's American parent company, Terex.

Terex also owns Terex Finlay in Omagh, which employs more than 300 people making similar machinery, and another company, Terex Pegson in Leicestershire.

Terex has said it is reorganising the business because of the slowdown in orders worldwide.

In all, there will be more than 300 redundancies, more than 200 of them in Leicestershire.

At present, it is thought that no jobs will be lost at the Terex Finlay plant in Omagh.

[give her dixie]

Doesn't look good for the Quinn Group with The Anglo fiasco.


Ireland may probe Quinn's Anglo Irish deals -PM

2009-01-28 14:01 (UTC) 

By Andras Gergely

DUBLIN, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Ireland may investigate transactions by the Quinn Group, a family-run conglomerate, in Anglo Irish Bank before the country's third biggest lender was nationalised, Prime Minister Brian Cowen said on Wednesday.

'As a result of the due diligence process recently undertaken on behalf of the (finance) minister, certain matters in connection with transactions involving the Quinn stake in the bank came to the attention of the minister which may warrant further investigation by the financial regulator,' Cowen told a parliamentary debate.

The Quinn Group, which has interests in property, hotels and insurance, said it was ready to provide any information requested by authorities.

'As previously outlined individual Quinn family members acquired a collective holding amounting to 15 percent of Anglo Irish Bank in July 2008,' Sean Quinn, chairman of the group, said in a statement late on Tuesday. 'This position remains unchanged. The regulator is and has been aware of this investment since that date.'

A spokesman said on Wednesday the Quinns had no further comment.

Cowen said that 'an overhang of shares' in Anglo Irish held by an investor last year came to be seen by the bank and the market as a source of instability.

'The institution (Anglo Irish) was seeking some resolution of this issue,' Cowen said. 'Any significant corporate governance issue that comes to life will be investigated by the appropriate authorities.'

The Irish Times newspaper reported, citing sources at the Department of Finance, that the Quinn Group had built up a stake of more than 20 percent in Anglo Irish via contracts for difference (CFDs), which do not have to be publicly declared, and offloaded a stake of 10 percent to wealthy clients of Anglo Irish, without placing them in the market.

The newspaper said that this private sale, which was carried out to avoid depressing the share price, was being investigated by the financial regulator.

'There are a number of strands to our investigation into matters at Anglo,' a spokeswoman for the regulator said on Tuesday without giving further details. The regulator was not immediately available for further comment on Wednesday.


'VERY MUCH REGRETTED'

One of the largest family-owned businesses in Ireland, the Quinn Group said in July it had bought a regular 15 percent stake in Anglo Irish after unwinding CFDs. The shares were trading around 5 euros ($6.63) each at that time.

Anglo Irish closed at 22 euro cents before the government announced it would take over the bank earlier this month to prevent a possible collapse.

A government-appointed assessor will determine what the banks is worth but Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has said shareholders may not get anything. Quinn's chairman has since said his investment was 'very much regretted'.

Ireland's financial regulator last week called for new legislation to stop investors from buying big stakes in companies without the need to declare them, using CFDs.

Irish media has reported that the Quinn Group is also one of Anglo Irish Bank's biggest debtors. The Quinn Group has declined to comment on that.

In a separate incident that led to the nationalisation of the bank, then Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick revealed in December he had misled shareholders about 84 million euros he had borrowed from the bank.

Sharp falls in Anglo's share price in September had also been a major contributor to Ireland's decision to provide a state guarantee for more than 400 billion euros of bank debt.

[An Gaeilgoir]

 a friend of mine worked up in the higher levels of the organisation mentioned the Quinn deal las October,  she bailed out at christmas, she claims that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

[orangeman]

a friend of mine worked up in the higher levels of the organisation mentioned the Quinn deal las October,  she bailed out at christmas, she claims that this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Can you tell us more ?

[give her dixie]

If this is the sort of information coming out now, and they are only scratching the surface, what lies ahead when the real probing starts?
The Financial regulators will have a lot to answer for before this goes away.

[orangeman]

Was the Financial regulator doing anything at all ? Were there any control measures in place at all ?

[ludermor]

Can someone explain in plain english what the craic is with Quinn and anglo

[give her dixie]

Here is a great article in todays Irish Independent

By Dearbhail McDonald Legal Editor


Saturday January 17 2009

IF Sean FitzPatrick lived in New York, he would already have done the perp walk.

The perp walk is the American slang term for the police practice of parading an arrested suspect in handcuffs before the media. Arrested, released on bail if he's lucky, the assets of this alleged perpetrator -- "the perp" -- would be frozen. His passport seized, FitzPatrick might be contemplating his bankrupt future from the comfort of his home, where -- under house arrest -- his every move would be monitored.

FitzPatrick could be preparing a defence to any number of criminal charges being pursued by the US Department of Justice, assisted by the Securities and Exchange Commission: conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, revenue recognition breaches.

The list is endless. Just ask any US executive ensnared in the post-Enron corporate cleansing crusade who is serving up to 40 years in prison.

Anglo is Ireland's Enron.

The descent of the energy trader shattered investor confidence, devastated corporate morale and left markets reeling.

So too with Anglo, which has brought our banking sector to its knees and led the New York Times to label Ireland as "the wild west of European finance".

What of Ireland's company laws? When was the last time any banker was handcuffed and led to jail for perpetrating a fraud? The answer is never.

What happened when the Supreme Court found last year that former DCC boss Jim Flavin was in possession of insider information when he traded stock?

Insider dealing, said Judge Nial Fennelly, was a fraud on the market, but Flavin's hands had to be prised from the helm of DCC and the only handcuffs that featured in the epic DCC-Fyffes saga were golden ones.

When he stepped down as chairman of Anglo, Sean FitzPatrick insisted that he did nothing illegal. Irish law firms circling angry shareholders in anticipation of quasi-class action lawsuits beg to differ.

Was FitzPatrick guilty of fraud? By any stretch of the imagination, his actions were fraudulent. Sean FitzPatrick acted with intent to deceive.

For eight years he hid colossal loans from shareholders. At a basic moral and corporate level, if not a legal one, he perpetrated a fraud on the shareholders. Would a shareholder have bought shares if he knew director's loans, ie, liabilities, were being concealed? Probably not. Therefore FitzPatrick's actions, if disclosed, may have impacted on Anglo's share price. The market, arguably, was distorted by his deception.

'McCarthyism'

FitzPatrick, who once branded Ireland's lax regulatory regime as "corporate McCarthyism", had a duty to ensure the annual accounts were a true view of Anglo's financial affairs.

What about the remaining members of the board? What knowledge had they of FitzPatrick's warehousing scheme?

What about the auditors, Ernst and Young? Under Irish laws they are not required to "search" for possible offences but they are required to react to information coming into their possession. How did they not know about FitzPatrick's loans?

Ireland's laissez-faire attitude towards corporate malfeasance stands in stark contrast to the zeal of our American cousins.

It is notoriously difficult to prosecute fraud, and our laws and precedents are out of date.

The Government is due to publish a new company law. Its aim is to enhance Ireland's reputation as an attractive place to do business. After Anglo, that's an incredibly big ask.

- Dearbhail McDonald Legal Editor

[muppet]

Was the Financial regulator doing anything at all ? Were there any control measures in place at all ?

In my experience regulators exist in Ireland to facilitate certain businessmen and of course the Government.

When it comes to regulation we are up there with Liberia and Panama.

[the Deel Rover]

any one see primetime last night i only caught the last 10 minutes but that was enough for me think they were talking about anglo irish. Mick Wallace the builder he off the mad hair and wexford youths boss makes the comment brazen as you like "well i'm not making any interest repayments on my loans " well i nearly put me shoe through the tv these fcukers who got us in to this mess aren't making any repayments on their massive loans while the rest of us Joe Soaps have to bail them out .