As noted yesterday, the Quinn Group’s campaign against the independent Irish Financial Regulator’s decision to appoint administrators to run its Quinn Insurance arm continues. The BBC corrals the interfering ‘foreigners’ into one report, while the Irish Times was on the streets in Cavan – where it’s worth noting the professionally produced protest signs. The administrators’ report is to be given to the regulator today – whom Seán Quinn has grudgingly conceded was “technically” correct in his assessment of the insurance company’s position. As Mack mentioned in the comments here, some people are asking questions about the arrangement by which the Quinn family’s losses on Anglo-Irish Bank shares were covered by loans from the Anglo-Irish Bank. Simon Carswell in the Irish Times
It was a disastrous investment which together with some other share investments have cost the Quinn family losses of 3 billion. Quinn has only reluctantly and on an entirely unsatisfactory drip-feed basis released details of the impact of that investment and how owning an indirect stake of more than a quarter of the States third largest bank has undermined one of Irelands largest insurers.
Yesterday brought a little more disclosure from Quinn a statement from his overall business, the Quinn Group, said that “due primarily to equity losses of circa 3 billion outside of the Quinn Group, the Quinn family owe Anglo Irish Bank 2.8 billion”. In other words, the bank in which the family lost most of the 3 billion in equity investments gave loans to cover those losses. This confirmed what had been suspected for a considerable time.
Last word, for now, on the Quinn Group’s campaign, from Karl Whelan at Irish Econmy
The serious point here: We are where we are in large part due to very serious regulatory failures. If the first time our new regulator steps in and deals with what he sees as serious failures to comply with regulations, there is any sense of the government (any arm of it) stepping in to protect those who failed to comply, then this would do serious damage to our attempts to build an image of having made a fresh start on the regulatory front.