Madam, – As one of the many investors who has lost a considerable sum of money due to the collapse of the value of bank shares, I am naturally angry at the failure of senior bank management to protect the assets of their shareholders.
However, I do not condone the premeditated throwing of eggs at the AIB chairman at Wednesday’s extraordinary general meeting and deplore in particular the media attention, TV appearances and radio interviews awarded to the perpetrator. This can only give encouragement to others to emulate this action, but it may not be eggs the next time. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The extraordinary general meeting at AIB to vote on recapitalisation provides yet another reminder of the impact of the destruction of shareholder value in the banks.
There are countless stories of people who put their life savings into bank shares and who now have lost all. The thoughtless herd-mentality rush of the banks to lend for so many questionable land purchases and property developments, when there was clear evidence of an overheated market, is the proximate cause of the loss of life savings by so many.
But there is another dimension to this which I have not heard discussed. To buy shares for the most part you must go through stockbrokers or agents, who charge a commission for the advice they give. Good practice would be to advise people buying shares to beware of overcommitting to one share, or indeed of putting all their savings into shares, even with a diversified portfolio.
Did the stockbrokers follow through on this? Did local bank managers or officials acting as agents to sell shares warn their customers of the risk of putting all their eggs in one basket? Is it possible that shareholders are not only at a loss of share value by virtue of profligate bank lending, but also as result of bad or reckless advice in the purchase of those shares? Has the financial regulator looked at this matter, given the evidence from recent bank meetings of shareholders losing everything on one share? Perhaps we can hear from some of these people. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Should the headline “AIB shareholders accept €3.5bn recapitalisation” (Business Today, May 14th) not have been “AIB shareholders bloody lucky and grateful that taxpayers keep afloat their failed business”? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I have just read that the AIB shareholders have approved the loan bail-out from the taxpayer.
All company directors when availing of a bank loan for their business are required to sign personal guarantees before the loan is approved, thus negating the legal position of limited liability of a company.
How many of the bank directors have been requested to sign personal guarantees for the loan they are receiving from the taxpayer? – Yours, etc,