Ireland In Talks to Take Majority Stake In Bank of Ireland-FT

FRANKFURT (MNI) – Ireland is positioning itself to take a “very
high” stake in embattled lender Bank of Ireland, leaving the country
without a major bank not under state control, the Financial Times
reported on Wednesday.

Citing people familiar with the talks, the business daily said
that, while the government would prefer to avoid a full nationalization
of the bank, the majority stake is under discussion as part of the
European Union-International Monetary Fund E85 billion rescue package.

Details of the rescue plan have yet to be finalized. However, the
plan would include capital injections to boost core tier one capital
ratios in the Irish banking sector to 12%, the paper continued.

Late last weekend, the Irish government had announced that it
would finally request financial aid from both the European Union and the
IMF to rescue its beleaguered banking sector. The rescue package under
consideration is expected to be somewhere between around E80 billion to
E90 billion, sources told Market News International on Sunday.

— Frankfurt bureau: +49-69-720 142; email: frankfurt@marketnews.com —

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