The Dublin government on Thursday night nationalised Anglo Irish Bank, Irelands third largest lender, amid a collapsing share price and reports of large-scale deposit withdrawals by its customers.
The move, announced by Brian Lenihan, finance minister, ends attempts to keep the bank in private ownership. It was prompted by fears that the bank could be declared insolvent, which would trigger a state??s guarantee and leave the government responsible for settling close to ?100bn of liabilities, including ?50bn of customer deposits and ?20bn of wholesale deposits.
The government said in a statement that the bank would ??continue to trade normally as a going concern?.
Anglo's shares were suspended today, having closed yesterday down 10.8 per cent at 20 cents, compared with a high of more than ?17 in May 2007. Shares in other Irish banks opened sharply lower, with Allied Irish Banks down nearly 13 per cent, Bank of Ireland falling 13.3 per cent and Irish Life & Permanent down 5.5 per cent.
