New venture from ex-Anglo executive

As his one-time employer’s remains were placed in liquidation this week, former Anglo Irish Bank executive, Tiarnan O’Mahoney, launched a new foreign exchange service that aims to capture €10 billion of the Republic’s market.

Mr O’Mahoney, Anglo’s former chief operating officer, and another colleague from the bank, Bryan McSharry, are heading up a newly-opened Irish branch of Moneycorp, the multinational foreign exchange giant.

Mr McSharry said yesterday the business would offer a full range of foreign exchange services to businesses here and hoped to carve out a €10 billion slice of the overall market, which is worth about €175 billion annually, over the next four years.

He said the withdrawal of both Anglo and Bank of Scotland from the Republic’s market, had left a “significant gap” in foreign exchange, as both provided this service to corporate customers.

“The other banks do offer it, but only as a sort of ancillary service to lending and other products,” he said. “There’s no specialist provider here.”

Mr McSharry pointed out the Republic’s open economy and dependence on both exports and imports, meant that the market for foreign exchange was strong here.

The service is a full branch of Moneycorp, which will be the legal counter party on all transactions. It will offer direct currency exchange and hedging facilities to customers, who will have the option of phoning in their orders or putting them through online.

Mr McSharry said it intended to compete on price and service with the banks. Both he and Mr O’Mahoney are directors of the business.

Mr O’Mahoney left Colloco over the last two weeks to focus on the Moneycorp project.

Colloco is a specialist financial services company that emerged from another venture Mr O’Mahoney established, International Securities Trading Corporation (ISTC), which was placed in examinership in late 2007, with liabilities of €871 million.

ISTC was one of the first victims of the financial crisis. Its problems were directly tied to the credit freeze and subsequent fall in asset values. Creditors agreed to write off €388.5 million in the subsequent rescue plan.

Mr O’Mahoney set up ISTC after he left Anglo Irish Bank in 2005. Most observers regarded him as favourite to succeed Seán FitzPatrick as chief executive of the bank the previous year, but the job went to David Drumm.

Moneycorp had gross income of stg£62.9 million in 2011 and £7.7 million pre-tax profits. Its Irish branch is on Windsor Place in central Dublin.