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IN MINISTER for Finance Brian Lenihan’s statement on banking last week, he repeated that the Government did not intend to impose losses on senior bondholders at Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide. He contended that this could not be done under current domestic law where senior debt obligations rank equally with deposits and other creditors.

But Mr Lenihan made it clear that he expected the subordinated debt holders in those financial institutions – who have accepted a higher return for assuming a greater risk – to make a “significant contribution” towards meeting the losses of the banks, and to share some of that €50 billion burden with taxpayers.