Anglo tapes have Castlebar connection

Anglo Tapes have Castlebar connection


Áine Ryan

UNLIKE David Drumm, the former Chief Executive of the now infamous Anglo Irish Bank, Castlebar native Matt Moran was not exactly a household name as the drama of the toxic bank’s meltdown unfolded in recent years.
However, the latest recordings in the  Anglo Tape revelations, published in last weekend’s Sunday Independent, confirm Mr Moran as one of the players whose use of colurful language and flippancy has left the Irish nation reeling, calling for a tougher banking inquiry and, crucially, with real fears that hoped-for concessions from Europe are now in danger, particularly a retrospective investment by the new Euro Zone rescue fund into the Irish Banks.
From 2002 to 2010 Mr Moran worked as Director of Finance at Anglo Irish Bank. He is from a well-known Castlebar business family and the youngest offspring of the late Michael and Mary Moran. Over many decades the family has run  Rocky’s pub, and an undertaking business on Tucker Street. Coincidentally the pub is across the road from Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s constituency office.
Mr Moran, who was educated at St Gerald’s College, Castlebar, between 1984 and 1990, now works as Chief Executive Officer of Lombard International Assurance in Luxembourg.  Ironically, in his Linkedin account he says he had shown ‘strong leadership and achievement especially within a pressurised work environment’.  
He also confirms he has had close to ‘20 years experience in financial services’ and a ‘[consistent] record of delivery at the highest level’.
His resumé continues “Highly driven, energetic, strategic business leader serving at Executive level in merchant banking, corporate finance and estate and wealth planning solutions.”
He states that his specialties are business leadership and strategy, team building and restructuring as well as equity and debt capital. The CV on Linkedin cites a BSc in Economics from the University of Wales and qualifications as a Chartered Accountant.

Tapes
THE Independent’s latest tape recordings reveal snippets of conversations he had with John Bowe, the bank’s then Head of Treasury. One conversation is about multi-billionaire SeΡn Quinn, then owner of a massive insurance and cement conglomerate. It is early 2008, the world’s credit markets are running out of cash and the collapse of Lehman Brothers is months away.
“[Quinn] is down just over a bill [€1bn],” Bowe told Moran. “Anybody even f**king listening to that. It is frightening.”
“The market is bigger than any man. It is the great leveller,” said Moran.
“Yeah, it is, isn’t it?” Bowe said.
“You stupid c**t [Quinn]. He really put us at risk,” said Moran, in a whisper.
In another conversation Moran and Bowe joke about how they planned to raise €5bn from a British fund manager during the crisis.
“I  can get a bit of drink into him I might say to him I’d like about €5bn before the 30th [Anglo’s year end],” Moran said to Bowe, who laughed.
“Get him to sign the beer mat,” replied Bowe.
Bowe asked: “Do you think he could give us a one-night stand?
”If I can promise him there’s no STD out of it,” said Moran.