PLANS BY former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick to seek a settlement with his creditors should be put to a vote next month or he should be declared bankrupt, the bank told the High Court.
The nationalised bank plans to vote against any attempt by Mr FitzPatrick to seek an arrangement with his creditors in settlement of debts of more than €110 million.
Mr FitzPatrick owes Anglo Irish Bank €110 million – on top of debts owing to seven other creditors. The bank has said he has listed only €29.3 million in unencumbered assets over which there are no legal claims and which are available for unsecured creditors.
Anglo wants Mr FitzPatrick’s court protection removed because it believes his application is doomed to fail as the bank is his largest creditor and it will vote against any proposed settlement. The bank has rejected Mr FitzPatrick’s claim that it was acting under pressure to ensure a public perception that former Anglo executives were not being “let off the hook” on their debts.
Mr FitzPatrick secured temporary court protection under the Bankruptcy Act 1988 last March – five months after the bank first sought repayment of his loans.
The protection order stopped creditors taking legal action against him and gave him time to propose an arrangement to settle his debts.
Mr FitzPatrick requires the support of three-fifths of creditors – in number and value of debt – in a vote at a private meeting under his application to become an “arranging debtor”, which would give him time to settle his debts in full or part.
That meeting is due to take place on July 12th but Anglo – fearing that Mr FitzPatrick would seek to delay it – asked the court to ensure the meeting proceeds or alternatively remove court protection and declare him a bankrupt. It said any proposal is bound to fail given that the bank will vote against it. Anglo accounts for more than 40 per cent of Mr FitzPatrick’s overall debts and has said it will reject any proposal from him.
Counsel for the bank, Paul Gardner SC, told the court yesterday that Anglo was anxious to vote against any arrangement and that this vote take place before the end of the legal term on July 31st.
Counsel for Mr FitzPatrick, Mark Sanfey SC, said he was seeking an adjournment to file a replying affidavit in response to the bank as “certain matters need to be answered”. He said the private meeting could not go ahead unless that process was complete. Mr Justice Brian McGovern agreed to adjourn the matter until June 28th.
Mr Sanfey said Mr FitzPatrick’s estate was “very complicated and extensive” but a “final and definitive statement of affairs” would be lodged in the next day or two and proof of Mr FitzPatrick’s debts would be ready for creditors by June 24th.
Mr FitzPatrick also owes money to investment company Friends First; EBS building society subsidiary Haven; Bank of Scotland (Ireland); the Revenue Commissioners; Ulster Bank Ireland; First Active; and AIB.
He was granted an order allowing the release of £90,000 (€110,000) from an Ulster Bank account to pay arrears on a £1.353 million investment bond to preserve its value.