2013-07-01

Oliver Wyman, 7 Billion Euro's Pulled From A Banker's Ass and the German National Anthem

"Ireland’s central bank will investigate whether tapes of senior bankers laughing at regulators contain evidence rules were broken during the 2008 rescue of failed lenders that eventually led to the country’s EU bailout.
/
Public outrage is growing in Ireland after a newspaper published transcripts of taped telephone conversations between executives of the now-defunct Anglo Irish Bank, wrecked when a property bubble burst in 2008 after years of reckless lending.
/
In the tapes published by the Irish Independent, Anglo’s then-head of capital markets John Bowe was asked how it had come up with a figure of €7-billion for a rescue. He responded that he had “picked it out of my arse.”
In another tape recorded as the crisis unfolded, executives sang the German national anthem and laughed as they discussed money flowing in from other countries after a guarantee of deposits held in Irish banks."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/european-business/irish-central-bank-probes-whether-tapes-show-rule-breaking/article12834559/

What does the Anglo Irish Bank and the entire banking sector of Spain have in common?

"Oliver Wyman is a leading global management consulting firm that combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation.."
http://www.oliverwymangroup.com/

[O]n the eve of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos in January 2007, financial consultants Oliver Wyman named Anglo Irish Bank the best bank in the world.
 
ANGLO IRISH BANK HAS published the worst set of results in corporate history in Ireland, outdoing its own record in confirming losses of €17.5bn for the last year.
/
Anglo also said it was wholly government owned and relies on continuing state support.
/
The bank’s CEO Mike Ainsley earned €974,000 last year.
Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, the company formerly called Anglo Irish Bank, has reported a pre-tax loss of €743m for the first six months of 2012 and warned that the eurozone debt crisis continued to weigh on the group.
/
IBRC reported a pre-tax loss of €743m for the first half of 2012, compared with a loss of €101m in the same period in 2011.
/
Anglo Irish was at the centre of Ireland’s property bubble. Initially a small commercial lender the bank transformed itself into an aggressive lender to property developers by injecting tens of millions of euros into projects in Ireland, the UK and elsewhere. At the height of the Celtic Tiger economy in 2007, the Anglo Irish share price peaked at €17, giving the bank a market capitalisation of €13bn.
Sean Fitzpatrick, former chairman and chief executive of Anglo Irish, and the man who oversaw the bank’s rapid expansion, was last month charged with manipulating the company’s share price as investors lost confidence in the lender when the financial crisis struck.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4f3b57d2-edc0-11e1-a9d7-00144feab49a.html#axzz27o9rcipF
 
Now on to Spain:
"The report, based on stress tests carried out by consultancy Oliver Wyman, lists seven banks that will certainly need bailout money or must raise further capital themselves by the middle of next year.
/
The Oliver Wyman report cleared most of the country's biggest banks, saying that Santander, BBVA, Caixabank, Sabadell and three others would not need any help.