Drumm may yet face Irish courts

ANGLO IRISH Bank chairman Alan Dukes has said the bank will be able to pursue former chief executive David Drumm through the Irish courts again if its objection to his discharge from bankruptcy in Boston is successful.

The bank expected a decision on its objection in the “relatively near future”, Mr Dukes told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform. “If that goes in the way we hope, that will leave it open to us to pursue actions here,” he said.

The Anglo chairman was questioned about the possibility of Mr Drumm facing sanction in the US before any actions in Ireland.

The bank’s legal action against Mr Drumm in the Irish High Court had to be postponed after he filed for bankruptcy in the US in October 2010 as Anglo didn’t want to be held in contempt of court given that it had a US business.

During a four-hour appearance before the committee, Mr Dukes said he expected Irish property prices to continue to decline.

“I don’t see any substantial evidence to suggest that we have reached the bottom of the property market yet,” he said.

Anglo’s new name, Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, would come into legal effect on October 14th, Mr Dukes said.

He hopes that Anglo, which was nationalised in 2009, would be wound down quicker than the 10-year timeframe set out under the EU-IMF bailout agreement.

“We think that parts or all of it could be done a little bit more quickly,” he said. This would depend on how the economy and property market performed, he said, adding that Anglo hoped to reduce its cost to the State to €25 billion from the €29.3 billion to €34.3 billion forecast in 2010.