Progress in Allfirst probe - Buckley
AIB chief executive Michael Buckley has said the American-led investigation into the Maryland losses of €866m euro by a rogue trader had made ‘‘a good bit of progress’’.
He again insisted there had been ‘‘very good underlying growth’’ in AIB’s business last year, and that it had been extended into 2002.
‘‘The 13% increase in our dividend is, I think, a sign of confidence of the board in our ability to maintain our momentum.’’
But Mr Buckley conceded: ‘‘This has been overshadowed by the suspected fraud, and we are taking it hard against our 2001 profits.’’
He said the new, lower assessment of the loss in Baltimore was the ‘‘definitive figure’’, adding, however: ‘‘The losses this trader (Mr Rusnak) was covering up in this incredibly devious way actually began as far back as 1997.
‘‘About 55% of those losses were incurred in 2001, about 30% in 2000 and around 15% go back to 1997.
‘‘I agree that it is even more serious that this thing has gone back such a long time. On the one hand you could say this was an absolute lack of controls, on the other you could say equally legitimately that this was an incredibly sophisticated and complex cover-up.
‘‘There was a very serious breakdown of controls within Allfirst - this is absolutely true.
‘‘It is also true that this individual systematically identified each control point and systematically found a way around each control point.
‘‘That is absolutely the case.’’
Mr Buckley - whose bank is reckoned by analysts to have been exposed to possible takeover bids by foreign competitor companies as a direct result of the American affair - also said Mr Ludwig’s investigation was mapping out ‘‘exactly and in detail what happened and how it happened, to whose benefit was it and what the management oversight issues were that the board should address’’.
He said: ‘‘I am as anxious as anyone to get hold of his report because the bank is very committed to taking action on its recommendations very quickly.’’
Mr Buckley dismissed AIB’s latest reported American deficit, a €11.4m trading loss in New York, as ‘‘a totally different situation’’, that had been dealt with within two weeks.
