Book description
As late as 2007, Anglo Irish Bank was a darling of the markets,
internationally recognized as one of the fastest growing financial
institutions in the world. By 2008, it was bust. The Irish
government's hopeless attempts to save Anglo have led the state to
ruin - culminating in a punitive IMF bailout in late 2010 and
threatening the future of the euro.
Now, for the first time, the full story of the Anglo disaster is
being told - by the journalist who has led the way in coverage of the
bank and its many secrets. Drawing on his unmatched sources in and
around Anglo, Simon Carswell of the Irish Times shows how the
business model that brought Anglo twenty years of spectacular growth
was also at the heart of its - and Ireland's - downfall. He paints a
vivid and disturbing picture of life inside Anglo - the credit
committee meetings, the lightning-quick negotiations with property
developers, the culture of lavish entertainment for politicians and
regulators - and of the men who presided over its dizzying rise and
fall: Sean FitzPatrick, David Drumm, Willie McAteer and many others.
This is not only the first full account of the Anglo disaster; it will
also be the definitive one.
Simon Carswell is Finance Correspondent of the
Irish Times
and the author of
Something Rotten: Irish Banking Scandals
.
