Former Anglo executive leaves Lombard International Assurance

Matt Moran, the former chief financial officer of Anglo Irish Bank in the time before it was nationalised in 2009, has left his position as chief executive of Lombard International Assurance, a €23 billion investment company based in Luxembourg.

On September 10th, 2013, The Irish Times revealed that Mr Moran had been granted immunity from prosecution arising from the criminal investigations into Anglo about two years ago.

Chief risk officer Claude Marx of Lombard has been appointed as its interim chief executive. "Claude succeeds Matt Moran who has left the business," Lombard said. In its seven-sentence statement, it made no other reference to Mr Moran.

The assurance company when contacted yesterday by The Irish Times declined to comment on the reasons for Mr Moran's departure. Mr Moran could not be contacted for comment.

On November 22nd, Sky News reported that life assurer Friends Life Group was planning a £400 million sale of Lombard International Assurance, which the news agency described as "helping some of the world's richest people manage their tax arrangements".

Mr Moran was a key executive in Anglo during the final years of the boom. He featured in the "Anglo tapes" published by Independent News & Media last summer, where he discusses everything from the bank's funding position to his personal opinion about Ireland's then richest man Sean Quinn, who had taken a massive gamble on Anglo.

Advising Anglo
Mr Moran liaised with the Financial Regulator and investment bank Morgan Stanley, which was advising Anglo, on the unwinding of Mr Quinn's investment in 2008.

A chartered accountant from Castlebar, Co Mayo, Mr Moran’s family ran a pub for decades opposite Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s constituency office.

Mr Moran helped set up meetings between Anglo executives and the Fine Gael politician in late 2008, when Mr Kenny was in opposition, in order to push the bank's interests within political circles.

Mr Moran also made contact with former Fianna Fáil TD Beverley Flynn in order to try and influence the then minister for finance Brian Lenihan.

Mr Moran updated David Drumm, the then chief executive of Anglo, on these political interactions by email in 2008. In the emails Mr Moran refers to Mr Kenny as "Enda K".