EU gives approval for AIB recapitalisation

Allied Irish Banks, Ireland’s second-biggest lender by market value, is allowed €3

Allied Irish Banks, Ireland’s second-biggest lender by market value, is allowed €3.5 billion of aid from Ireland, the European Union said.

The emergency recapitalization of AIB is to “remedy a serious disturbance in the Irish economy,” the European Commission, the executive arm of the 27-nation bloc, said in a statement today.

“This capital injection will enable Allied Irish Bank to weather the financial crisis” and avoid “disproportionate distortions of competition,” said Neelie Kroes, the EU Competition Commissioner, in the statement.

Bloomberg