Anglo Irish shareholders consulting solicitors
I suspect the shareholders concerned may have to wait until the Irish Financial Regulator and the Director of Corporate Enforcement decide on whether any illegalities occurred before they’ll be able to proceed.. But since the Regulator and the Irish Finance Minister knew at least part of what was going on at the bank at the time.. ANYhoo.. RTÉ tells us that two firms of solicitors are talking separately to shareholders in now nationalised Anglo Irish Bank [Including Sean Quinn? - Ed] about the possibility of a class action style lawsuit “against the bank and others.”
Around 300 shareholders of Anglo Irish Bank gathered in a Dún Laoghaire hotel for an information meeting with a solicitor who is considering organising a lawsuit against the bank and others. The meeting was held to gauge shareholder interest in pursuing a legal action for compensation, after their investments were effectively wiped out by the bank’s nationalisation.
This is a strange move Pete and I’m confused as to what they might have in mind. I mean, they must be up to something sensible but I’ve no idea what it might be.
Under Irish company law, directors owe duties to the company, not individual shareholders. So, if anyone is in a position to sue the previous directors, it’s the company itself. These shareholders might sue the previous directors in a derivative action, where they (the shareholders) essentially say that they represent the company and so are pursuing a suit on the company’s behalf. But these rarely succeed (in fact, I’m not sure that I could name one that has in Ireland) and also there’s a new Anglo board so, if the previous directors are to be sued because of any misappropriation, the company could do it on the initiative of Donal O’Connor, Alan Dukes et al.
Oh, and there’s no recourse for shareholders who buy shares in companies whose directors are rubbish at their jobs. Buyer beware.
Ciarán
I think we’ll have to wait some time before we find out what action, if any, they propose to take.
What the Financial Regulator and the Director of Corporate Enforcement have to say may prove to be the deciding factor.
For now the story has a hint of ‘solicitors trying to drum up business’ about it.
Your man Quinn ‘richest in Ireland’ said in the IN he’s lost 1 billion, woooooosh (:
By right, there does need to be a public enquiry into why the authorities failed to act on the information they had about Quinn’s activities. My understanding is that they’ve been aware of dodginess for at least a year.