Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne says Britain âstands readyâ to assist Ireland. What he didnât say is that U.K. taxpayers have already funded the largest part of an 18.4 billion-pound ($29.4 billion) bailout for Irish lenders.
The aid was used to prop up the Irish units of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Lloyds Banking Group Plc since the onset of the credit crisis, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.
RBS, Britainâs biggest government-controlled bank, had at least 11.9 billion pounds of Irish assets covered by the U.K. taxpayer-backed Asset Protection Scheme at the end of 2009. It also sent 2.71 billion-pounds of additional capital to its Ulster Bank unit up to January this year, according to records in Dublinâs Companies Registration Office. Government-controlled Lloyds sent a total of 4.45 billion euros ($6 billion) in fresh capital to its Bank of Scotland (Ireland) unit in 2010 and previously, the bank said.
âWeâre knee deep already in Irelandâs banks,â said Peter Hahn, a former managing director of Citigroup Inc. who now lectures on corporate finance at Cass Business School in London. âItâs going to get increasingly disturbing for people to see how exposed we are to Irelandâs banks.â If anything, 18.4 billion pounds âsounds like a low number,â he said.
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQWZ9oC.vtQI&pos=5
The aid was used to prop up the Irish units of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Lloyds Banking Group Plc since the onset of the credit crisis, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.
RBS, Britainâs biggest government-controlled bank, had at least 11.9 billion pounds of Irish assets covered by the U.K. taxpayer-backed Asset Protection Scheme at the end of 2009. It also sent 2.71 billion-pounds of additional capital to its Ulster Bank unit up to January this year, according to records in Dublinâs Companies Registration Office. Government-controlled Lloyds sent a total of 4.45 billion euros ($6 billion) in fresh capital to its Bank of Scotland (Ireland) unit in 2010 and previously, the bank said.
âWeâre knee deep already in Irelandâs banks,â said Peter Hahn, a former managing director of Citigroup Inc. who now lectures on corporate finance at Cass Business School in London. âItâs going to get increasingly disturbing for people to see how exposed we are to Irelandâs banks.â If anything, 18.4 billion pounds âsounds like a low number,â he said.
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQWZ9oC.vtQI&pos=5