EU warns Ireland over banking plan

Ireland’s plans to base its banking system around Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks could hamper competition and must only be a short-term solution, the European Union’s Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia warned in June 2011.

The comments were made as Bank of Ireland’s efforts to raise €4.2bn in fresh capital came under attack after a group of its junior bondholders filed a lawsuit in London claiming the bank was acting beyond its powers in a debt-for-equity swap it launched in June 2011.

ESO: Background information: Ireland revives ‘haircut’ demand http://www.europeansources.info/record/ireland-revives-haircut-demand/

Irish Times, 18.6.11: 'Unilateral' Irish bank guarantee triggered EU-wide stability measures, says Almunia http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0618/1224299153081.html

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