Anglo case: The two men found guilty

Willie McAteer and John Bowe at the heart of Anglo Irish Bank

Willie McAteer, former director of finance at Anglo Irish Bank , was found guity.
Willie McAteer, former director of finance at Anglo Irish Bank , was found guity.

Willie McAteer

McAteer was the last of the four to be charged in connection with this case. He grew up in Co Donegal and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1975. He was a partner with accounting firm PwC before becoming managing director of Paul Coulson's Yeoman International Leasing, a venture capital firm.

McAteer was later offered a job by Seán FitzPatrick, then chief executive of up-and-coming Anglo Irish Bank. He led a four-strong team when he started in 1992 when its profits were under €13 million.

John Bowe, former head of capital markets at Anglo Irish Bank, was found guilty.
John Bowe, former head of capital markets at Anglo Irish Bank, was found guilty.

As finance director, McAteer was there for a 15-year stretch of continuous growth and expansion as Anglo became Ireland’s third-biggest bank, with operations in North America, the UK and eastern Europe.

As group finance director and chief risk officer, McAteer was one of the most senior executives at Anglo at the time of the crash in late 2008.

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During the hearing to decide this matter, McAteer’s counsel revealed that his client had an annuity on his €1.5 million pension of €90,000 per year, but that his wife is entitled to half of the overall amount.

McAteer is 65 and lives in Greenrath, Tipperary.

John Bowe

A low-profile executive of Anglo Irish Bank before the financial crash, John Bowe came to prominence in 2013 through the release of the so-called Anglo Tapes.

These detailed a number of colourful conversations between senior executives before the bank’s collapse in 2008 and subsequent nationalisation.

The jury heard a number of phone calls which involved Mr Bowe and his then chief executive David Drumm. On September 30th, Seán FitzPatrick, then chairman of Anglo, telephoned Bowe to congratulate him on his efforts on a day when the bank had experienced record inflows of cash in the wake of the guarantee.

Bowe joined Anglo in 2001 and held a number of senior treasury positions, including head of wholesale funding, before being promoted to head of capital markets in 2008, in charge of wholesale funding.

Bowe was later elevated to director of corporate development and was involved in Anglo’s efforts to collect debts owed by the family of Seán Quinn, once Ireland’s richest man.

Since leaving the bank in March 2012, Bowe is reported to have founded his own consultancy firm, working with accountancy practices on client engagements in the leisure and healthcare sectors.

Bowe was one of the Anglo executives to transition to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, which was formed by the State through the merger of parts of Anglo and parts of the former Irish Nationwide building society.

Bowe is 52 and lives with his family in Glasnevin, Dublin.

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock is Business Editor of The Irish Times