Anglo Irish Bank tapes show brusque demands by failed lender

Bosses of Anglo Irish Bank were ordered to go to Ireland’s central bank with “arms swinging” to demand a multi-billion-euro taxpayer bailout, according to the latest in a series of embarrassing leaked recordings.

The transcript of the tapes, the latest published Thursday by the Irish Independent newspaper, have prompted a promise from the government that it will open an inquiry into the bailout of the bank, one of the institutions whose rapid fall from grace epitomised the Irish financial collapse.

The recordings, dating from 2008, include discussions about the process which led to Anglo Irish receiving 7.0 billion euros (HK$70.7 billion) of bailout funds. It eventually required far more.

In the latest revelations, the bank’s then chief executive David Drumm outlines his strategy for bringing cash into the fast-collapsing institution.

Using colourful language, he tells John Bowe, Anglo’s then director of treasury, to use “simple speak” when making his plea to the Central Bank of Ireland.

“We need the moolah, you have it, so you’re going to give it to us and when would that be? We’ll start there.”