The Commercial Court is to fast-track the action by the family of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn against the Central Bank, Minister for Finance and 10 former board members of Anglo Irish Bank. They are claiming multi-million euro damages over an alleged conspiracy to unlawfully shore up the share price of Anglo, the Irish Times reported. If the regulator and Minister were not involved, Anglo could not, and would not, have undertaken €2.34 billion loan transactions causing “catastrophic and permanent” damage to the Quinns and the collapse of the Quinn group, it is claimed.

The Government will establish an €800 million lending fund for small and medium-sized businesses by the end of the year after Ministers gave the go-ahead for the body, known as the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), the Irish Times reported. Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said the SBCI – backed by German, European and Irish money – would provide lending arrangements not currently available to SMEs in Ireland. “The best way to see it is to see it as a fund, to see it as a big fund.

Former Anglo Irish Bank Corp. Chief Executive Officer David K. Drumm, sued by the defunct lender over an unpaid personal loan, conceded to a U.S. judge he made “a lot of errors” in his bankruptcy filing and wasn’t aware he needed to reveal $1.2 million in cash transfers to his wife, Bloomberg News reported. Drumm, 47, filed for personal bankruptcy protection from creditors in 2010 in Boston, two years after he began moving money to a new account set up for his wife. Anglo Irish argues Drumm can’t use U.S.

Pre-tax losses at ACC Bank increased to €310 million last year, up from €213 million in 2012. The increase in losses reflected additional impairments on assets especially in respect of property related exposures, the Irish Times reported. In its final annual results as a licensed bank, the bank said total loans and advances to customers at year end amounted to €2.6 billion, in comparison to the €2.8 billion at the end of 2012. In October, ACC announced plans to withdraw from providing standard banking products, such as current accounts, to focus solely on debt recovery.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge signed off on the sale of some €15 billion ($20.6 billion) of soured loans on the books of what was once one of Ireland's largest banks as the country digs out from the wreckage of its collapsed property market, The Wall Street Journal reported. Judge Christopher Sontchi on Tuesday approved Irish Bank Resolution Corp.'s sale of the loan portfolios at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

Nama decided to enforce loans of €77 million against businessman Harry Crosbie because he failed to disclose substantial assets, including three apartments in the south of France, when asked to provide details of all assets held by himself and his family, the Commercial Court heard yesterday. Mr Crosbie incorrectly told Nama he had no uncharged assets when the agency provided €32 million in taxpayer’s money to complete the Point Village development when, in fact, Mr Crosbie did hold unencumbered assets, Mr Justice David Keane was told, the Irish Times reported.

Permanent TSB has in recent days invited corporate advisers to pitch to sell two of its loan books with a face value of €2.5 billion. It has invited tenders from accounting firms and corporate advisers to sell its €2.1 billion Irish commercial real estate (CRE) book and its €465 million Springboard Mortgages subprime portfolio, the Irish Times reported. In March, State-owned Permanent TSB said its strategy was to sell the two businesses either this year or in early 2015.

A Swiss former financial adviser to the family of Seán Quinn has strenuously denied being the “mastermind” behind an alleged conspiracy to move €500 million worth of overseas property assets away from the former Anglo Irish Bank. In an interview with the Irish Times, Michael Waechter – the founder of Senat, a United Arab Emirates legal and business advisory firm – said he had co-ordinated some of the Quinn’s legal actions and helped set up Belize and Panama firms for them, but he had at all times acted legally.

The Republic will not support a fresh legal challenge by the United Kingdom to the European Union’s proposed financial transactions tax, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said yesterday, as 10 EU countries preliminarily agreed to introduce a new tax on share transactions by 2016 and civil groups in Ireland condemned Ireland for not signing up to the measure, the Irish Times reported. Mr Noonan was speaking after Sweden said it would potentially support the UK if it brought a second case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over the plan.

Bank of Ireland was singled out for criticism by the head of the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) Lorcan O’Connor at an Oireachtas hearing yesterday for adopting a “very blunt” approach in its dealings with distressed borrowers, the Irish Times reported. While he did not name the bank, it was clear Mr O’Connor’s criticism referred to comments made to the committee by Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher earlier this month when he said his bank would veto any proposal from Personal Insolvency Practitioners (PIP) featuring mortgage write-down.