The Minister for Finance has secured High Court orders permitting the immediate transfer of some €12.2 billion deposits from Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society in the latest stage of a process aimed at achieving the orderly and speedy winding down of both institutions.

Staff in both institutions will also be affected by the orders.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern granted the orders to Brian Murray SC, for the Minister, during a court hearing this afternoon.

The order means some €8.6 billion in deposits in Anglo in Ireland and the UK will be transferred to Allied Irish Banks and deposits in Anglo UK will go to AIB UK. Some €1 billion in deposits will remain in Anglo following the transfer. AIB will also purchase 100 per cent of Anglo’s Isle of Man subsidiary for €200 million.

Some €3.6 billion of INBS deposits will go to Irish Life & Permanent leaving just a small amount of deposits there. IL&P will also buy  INBS’ Isle of Man subsidiary for €100 million.

Some 237 staff will transfer from INBS to IL&P and 210 staff will transfer from Anglo to AIB.

Mr Justice McGovern said he was satisfied to make the transfer orders. He was also satisfied these could properly be categorised as a reorganisation measure under the relevant EU Directive, the CIWUD Directive, meaning they would be recognised in the UK and other EU member states.

The judge was earlier told by Mr Murray that both Anglo and INBS, and AIB and IL&P, had consented to the orders, made under the Credit Institutions Stabilisation Act.

The Minister had sought that the fact or content of the application should not be published until after the order was made and also asked that the orders not be actually effective until 5.01pm.

Mr Murray said he wanted the 5pm embargo out of concerns of the disruptive effects if the orders were made prior to close of business as the orders provided for immediate transfer. He also sought the ban on publication of the application until then to avoid "a predator" possibly triggering an event of default prior to the order being made.

Cian Ferriter, appearing for The Irish Times, said these were matters of "vital public interest" but his client accepted the reasons proffered by the Minister for delayed publication. Mr Justice McGovern said he was satisfied to make the order delaying publication until 5.01pm.

In a statement this evening, the Central Bank said the Department of Finance has confirmed that the terms and conditions of transferring deposits from Anglo and INBS remain the same, including those in relation to maturity and interest rate, and will be unaffected by the transfer.

No action is required by depositors and there will not be any change in how they deal with their accounts. All deposits can be accessed as normal through the relevant institutions and depositors can continue to do business as normal with Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide.

Today's application was a follow on from an application by the Minister on February 8th last for an auction of deposits and assets in both Anglo and the INBS as part of the wind down of both institutions. Those steps are a condition of the EU and IMF bail-out plan for Ireland and the court heard the ongoing gradual decrease in deposits in both Anglo and INBS is destabilising both them and the Irish financial system.

Some material relating to the position of Anglo and the INBS was blacked out in documents provided on grounds of "commercial sensitivity".

Previously, the court heard, if the deposit sales process has a negative impact on the capital position of Anglo and INBS, the State will have to provide additional capital.

Both institutions are also to take various other steps, including disposal of Anglo's Wealth Management Division and transferring loans to Nama, before merging into a smaller 100 per cent government owned institution.

The Joint EC Restructuring and Work Out Plan for Anglo and INBS submitted on January 31st last to the EC requires both to take steps towards by March 31st next towards achieving several measures, including reducing net lending to customers and transfer remaining eligible loans to Nama.

Anglo must also formulate detailed plans for rationalisation, including closing its branches in the UK, Vienna, Dusseldorf and Jersey and dispose of its Wealth Management Division. INBS must reduce its net lending to customers and limit increases in residential property lending to contractually committed amounts or sums arising from restructuring of existing mortgages.