Joan Burtons Anglo FOI

[Digout]

Hats off to Gavin for this. The document appears to have been poorly redacted, so we can see some of the info that we were not supposed to know, Some great lines from Merrill Lynch such as

The assessment by Merrill Lynch supports the position that Anglo Irish Bank is fundamentally sound.

This was at the time that finance had the PWC report saying other things.

Add this to the reasons for Lenny to resign.


Ireland’s notification to the European Commission – The Story

[hammer]

Read that Lenny`s first cousin is a tax partner in PwC, Feargal O`Rourke and that he relies on his opinion quite a bit.

Wonder if it was him that came up with Vat increase ?

PwC seem to get a fair amount of business !!!!

[Sync]

Great link Digout, thanks very much. This is the point we're at. People who can't even use a red marker fail at redacting items which shouldn't be confidential in the first place.

[zakalwe1]

god bless ms word and those who cannot use "final markup" etc!!!

[Digout]

Great link Digout, thanks very much. This is the point we're at. People who can't even use a red marker fail at redacting items which shouldn't be confidential in the first place.

Pretty shocking aint it ?

[Fish]

[quote]

Hats off to Gavin for this. The document appears to have been poorly redacted

The stink coming from the scandal of Anglo and all of those associated with it and it's subsequent bail out is positively rank! As stated in the piece....

Of course questions need to be asked. This document is dated January 8. The Government already had the PwC reports into Anglo and must have had some idea of the scale of the problems at the bank. Yet Merrill was still claiming Anglo was fundamentally sound just a week before the bank was nationalised. Not alone that, all references to the bank being fundamentally sound were marked for redaction

Questions indeed need to be asked but not in a tribunal or committee type circus that we are accustomed to in this country. I await with interest the outcome of the present investigations into Anglo to see if anyone is brought to book. Given the past history of the system of justice meeted out to the well heeled and well connected in this country though the cynic in me does not believe any sanction (if any)will adequately fit the crime or meet any objective moral standard.

[slx]

Perhaps someone was just so disgusted with what is going on that they just sent the wrong version?

This is how leaks usually happen, they're often "accidents"

[Digout]

There is one final section that sums up the entire sorry mess, my emphasis:

Anglo Irish Bank is a focused business bank with a private banking arm. The Bank provides business banking, treasury and wealth/management services. It is not a universal bank and its stated strategy is niche rather than broad market. Each of its customers deals directly with a dedicated relationship manager and a product specialist.

Yet in the same breath we are told the Anglo is of systemic importance. So which is it?

Looks like Lenny did not read another report.

[DCon]

However, given the envisaged future changes in the Bank’s business model and strategic direction under its restructuring plan, it is anticipated that in time further elements of the credit package will become applicable to Anglo Irish Bank accordingly

By "future changes", did they mean collapse?

[Gadfly]

"The assessment by Merrill Lynch supports the position that Anglo Irish Bank is fundamentally sound.[Confidential - commercially sensitive][Department to confirm]"

Classic. And this prompts more questions:

1. Just how bizarre is a standard of commercial sensitivity whereby statements cited publically by Ministers can be ruled confidential - months after they have been made public?

2. What would be a fair standard for determining what is commerically sensitive? On this standard, practically everything can be kept out of the public domain. This has major implications for NAMA - I may be hopelessly naive, but I like to think that the greater the possibility of public review of its proceedings, the less chance there is of unsecured loans or loans lacking collateral being taken on at our expense. Or does this very likelihood explain the insistence on a maximalist approach to confidentiality?

2. What FoI rules apply to the Commission? There may be scenarios where documents can be accessed from Brussels when they are not available from Dublin. Keep up the good work, Gavin.