AIB saw conflict of interest

Anglo Irish Bank (AIB) claimed the Financial Regulator had a conflict of interest in May 2008 telling it to reduce its loans to Sean Quinn while telling AIB to release Quinn from a guarantee that was affecting the financial position of Quinn Insurance, The Irish Times reports.

The Times says internal bank records dating from January 2009 show that Anglo’s management felt that the regulator was concerned in May 2008 about potential issues with the insurer, which was also a regulated entity.

At the time, Anglo was working closely with the regulator on the unwinding of Sean Quinn’s indirect 28% interest in the bank that he had secretly built up through share derivatives.