The men at the centre of the tapes: Bowe and Fitzgerald

John Bowe

John Bowe was head of capital markets in Anglo and acting director of treasury at the time the phone call with Fitzgerald was recorded.

Later he would become director of corporate development for the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), as it became, from March 2010 to 2012.

Since his departure last year, Bowe has gone on to found his consultancy firm Independent Consultant which works with accountancy practices on client engagement in both the leisure and healthcare sectors.

Like his colleague Peter Fitzgerald, Bowe had been retained in the IBRC after it was bailed out by the State.

According to his business profile on the LinkedIn site, Bowe is described as having experience at a senior level in banking and in corporate restructuring and, tellingly, cites his “excellent commercial, analytical, team building and crisis management skills”.

As director of treasury at Anglo Irish Bank – he held an acting role at the time the recordings were made – Bowe's description says he "provided leadership of the division through a period of acute stress, working with key stakeholders, staff and the management team to ensure stability and direction".

It was at this stage that he led the first Liability Management Exercise (LME) of the Irish banks and other important balance sheet management and funding initiatives.

His profile also points out that in his role as head of capital markets he oversaw a bank that became “one of the most active issuers in the debt markets”.

“The bank was also an active and innovative issuer of capital and John also established and led a best-in-class debt investor relations platform,” it says.

He lists his educational background as including the Catholic University School and Dublin City University (DCU) where, between 1982 and 1986, he studied accounting and finance.

Peter Fitzgerald

At the time of the recorded discussion Peter Fitzgerald was head of retail banking at Anglo Irish Bank and was responsible for activity in that area across Ireland, the UK and in offshore markets.

Later, as the bank was converted into the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), he became head of corporate affairs, a largely PR role helping to promote its reformation.

In particular, according to his LinkedIn profile, Fitzgerald oversaw “extensive media relations, public relations, public affairs and internal communications during a period of extensive restructuring and change”.

He was in charge of providing factual information to stakeholders and of influencing “the issues which could impact the organisation’s ability to operate successfully in the public interest”.

As alluded to in his response to the taped conversation, he was not a member of the executive management board and was not involved in negotiations with the Central Bank.

Before 2008 he had held the roles of director of retail and business banking and head of corporate treasury.

In the latter role, which he occupied from 1998 to 2002, he said he developed an extensive portfolio of clients for the bank involved in foreign exchange and derivative products.

These days, Fitzgerald is interim chief executive of the Addiction Councillors of Ireland group, a role he says includes responsibility for strategic planning and communications.

“The Addiction Counsellors of Ireland is a professional accrediting body that develops, monitors and maintains best practice for its members who counsel in the specific field of addiction,” he says on his profile.

“I am responsible for the management and development of the organisation together with the design and implementation of its strategic communications and public relations plans.”

A trained chartered accountant, he lists the European Institute of Communications, where he studied PR and marketing, as well as the Presentation Brothers College in Cork among his past education.