Creditors to decide on FitzPatrick's payment plan

A PRIVATE meeting of the creditors of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick will go ahead in two weeks, the High Court was told yesterday.

The creditors will meet to decide whether to accept an arrangement put forward by Mr FitzPatrick in settlement of his debts.

The former chairman owes €110 million to Anglo Irish Bank and a further sum to other creditors, including six other banks and the Revenue Commissioners.

He received temporary protection from legal claims in March from the High Court under the Bankruptcy Act 1988 to give him time to make an arrangement with his creditors.

Mr FitzPatrick requires the support of three-fifths of creditors – in number and value of debt – in a vote at the private meeting in two weeks for his arrangement to succeed.

However, Anglo Irish, which said it owns 40 per cent of the debt, has already told the court it will vote against the arrangement.

Earlier this month, the bank brought a motion to the High Court seeking to have Mr FitzPatrick’s protection removed. It feared Mr FitzPatrick would seek to delay the private meeting of creditors.

Paul Gardner SC, for the bank,told the court yesterday that the bank was reassured the private meeting would go ahead.

Mr Gardner said it was “absolutely unimpeachable” that the arrangement would not succeed because the bank would vote against it.

Mark Sanfey SC, for Mr FitzPatrick, said they had received all of the creditors’ claims from the official assignee – the bankruptcy court official – and were considering them.

He said the private sitting could go ahead on the assumption that the claims of three contingent creditors – parties who would have a claim only if a specified event did or did not occur in the future – would be decided in advance of it.

Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said the contingent liabilities were not very significant in the overall context.

Even if those matters were not determined before the private meeting, she said, it could still deal with existing liabilities.

Mr Sanfey suggested the contingent creditors could be allowed to attend the private meeting even if their positions were not decided in advance of it.

Ms Justice Dunne told the parties to continue corresponding to resolve the contingent creditor issue and she set a date of July 7th for a preliminary meeting of creditors ahead of the private meeting and vote.