Anglo Irish bosses forced to quit

The two top bosses at Anglo Irish bank have resigned

The chief executive and chairman of Anglo Irish Bank have resigned after a 87m euros (£81.1m) loan controversy.

Chairman Sean Fitzpatrick resigned late on Thursday after admitting that he had transferred millions of euros out of the Dublin-based bank's accounts.

The temporary transfers were "inappropriate and unacceptable from a transparency point of view," he said.

Chief executive David Drumm announced his resignation on Friday, saying it was "appropriate" that he step down.

"It is undoubtedly in the best interests of Anglo that a new chief executive is appointed to lead the bank through its next phase of development," he added.

A replacement for Mr Drumm has yet to be announced.

Avoid disclosure

For his part, Mr Fitzpatrick said he had broken no laws.

Ireland's Financial Services Regulatory Authority said investigators discovered the loans during a wider trawl of Anglo Irish's accounts.

It found that Mr Fitzpatrick had repeatedly transferred loans out of Anglo Irish and back again over many years to ensure that the monies were not disclosed in the company's annual accounts.

Mr Fitzpatrick's successor as chairman Donal O'Connor announced a review of the bank's internal management operations.

"The board is determined to do what is right. A thorough review of governance will commence, using independent expertise, immediately," he said.