New bank legislation targets subordinated bondholders

Subordinated bondholders in Irish banks face the prospect of sharing the burden of loan losses under new legislation that will come before the Dáil tomorrow.

The Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Bill published by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan this afternoon, will enshrine into law recommendations on the Irish banking system outlined in the Irish International Monetary Fund/EU memorandum of understanding.

As part of an €85 billion rescue plan, the State has agreed to reduce the size of the Irish bank sector in a bid to prevent future loan losses tipping the economy over the edge and damaging the wider euro-zone. Some €35 billion of the fund is being used to bail out the banking system, with €10 billion being injected up front and the remaining €25 billion left in a contingency fund in case of future bank losses.

Under the proposed legislation, the Minister, in consultation with the governor of the Central Bank, will have additional powers. These includes the ability to make subordinated liabilities orders in certain cases to achieve "appropriate burden sharing" by subordinated creditors in institutions that have received State support.

AIB, Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank, EBS and Irish Nationwide Building Society have all received funding from the Government, with more than €35 billion already injected into or commited to the lenders.

The Minister will also have the power to appoint a special manager to such a bank "in limited and exceptional circumstances".

It also gives the Minister powers to transfer some institutions’ assets and liabilities to facilitate the restructuring of the sector, and will enable the Government to inject part of the capital required by AIB before the end of the year.

Although the Central Bank imposed new capital core tier 1 ratios of 12 per cent for Irish banks, it said it wanted AIB to maintain a ratio of 14 per cent to cover future loan losses. The bank must raise almost €10 billion in additional capital and as a result, the State is expected to take a stake of more than 90 per cent in the bank.

Up until last month, AIB, Bank of Ireland and Anglo Irish Bank had lost more than €35 billion in deposits this year.

Mr Lenihan said a "comprehensive restructuring" of the retail banking system in the State was a key factor in the EU-IMF rescue plan agreement.

"The banking system must play its role in providing the credit to the real economy to support our recovery," he said.

The Bill also contains provisions that allow the Minister to impose terms and conditions on institutions in return for State aid, as Mr Lenihan did over payment of bonuses by AIB.

The new powers contained in the Bill are scheduled to expire at the end of December 2012.

The Bill, which will be debated in the Dáil tomorrow, is expected to be enacted by the end of the week. Draft legislation providing for a comprehensive Special Resolution Regime (SRR) that will provide a framework for winding down lenders in the future will be introduced to the Dáil before the end of February.

Additional reporting: Reuters