Journalist Expulsion at AIB nationalisation

orourkeda

http://namawinelake.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/aib-nationalised-amidst-the-explusion-of-irish-times-journalists-at-dublins-high-court-the-shape-of-things-to-come/

Odd decision by a judge to expel journalist from the high court today

Cookie_Monster

report in the Indo said the sitting was supposed to be in-camera so there should be no-one there surely?

orourkeda

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

report in the Indo said the sitting was supposed to be in-camera so there should be no-one there surely?

What were the grounds for it being held in camera?

Cookie_Monster

orourkeda wrote: »

What were the grounds for it being held in camera?

dunno, that Lenny is the boss now and he can dictate as he likes?

excerpt:

The Government's aim is to eventually re-float AIB on the stock market several years down the line or sell the institution to another bank when recovery kicks in.

Proceedings were finalised in the Dublin High Court behind closed doors.

The dramatic move was enabled under Ireland's brand new Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Act which gives sweeping powers to the Finance Minister to intervene directly in the running of the banks.

:
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/aib-nationalised-with-euro37bn-injection-of-taxpayers-money-2472618.html

orourkeda

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

dunno, that Lenny is the boss now and he can dictate as he likes?

excerpt:
:
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/aib-nationalised-with-euro37bn-injection-of-taxpayers-money-2472618.html

Transparency and accountability how are you?

Cookie_Monster

orourkeda wrote: »

Transparency and accountability how are you?

gone the same way of decency and professionalism in the banking and government world.

I dunno how they expect the auditors to sign any of this off to be honest, it all far to dodgy to pass cleanly.

kippy

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

gone the same way of decency and professionalism in the banking and government world.

I dunno how they expect the auditors to sign any of this off to be honest, it all far to dodgy to pass cleanly.

Auditors?
Auditors tend to sign off what they are paid to sign off. Thats another 10% of the problem right there.

I agree though, its a joke that these affairs aren't conducted in the public arena, we are paying for them after all.

leeroybrown

orourkeda wrote: »

What were the grounds for it being held in camera?

I haven't read the article but presumably it was on the grounds that the information being discussed was commercially sensitive to the Irish banking market. Which is probably not good news!

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I dunno how they expect the auditors to sign any of this off to be honest, it all far to dodgy to pass cleanly.

Haven't auditors been signing off on the banks accounts for years!

Cookie_Monster

leeroybrown wrote: »

Haven't auditors been signing off on the banks accounts for years!

hmmm... yeah suppose so

hmmm

Presumably simply because it is a listed company and this would have an obvious impact on the stockprice.

johnnyskeleton

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

report in the Indo said the sitting was supposed to be in-camera so there should be no-one there surely?

In most in camera matters (i.e. cases where there are child welfare/protection issues, allegations of sexual assault, proceeds of crime cases, family law etc) bona fides members of the press and other lawyers are usually entitled to remain in the court (provided they don't publish the names or any details that might lead to the identification of the parties).

A complete exclusion is utterly bizzare.

leeroybrown

Actually, having read about this a little more I can guess exactly why it happened. It's likely that details of the ongoing sale negotiations for 'Bank Zachodni WBK' were openly discussed at the meeting as it relates directly to the way the nationalisation is being conducted. I can see why a judge would allow those kind of details to be hidden from all but the directly involved parties.

kaiser sauze

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

In most in camera matters (i.e. cases where there are child welfare/protection issues, allegations of sexual assault, proceeds of crime cases, family law etc) bona fides members of the press and other lawyers are usually entitled to remain in the court (provided they don't publish the names or any details that might lead to the identification of the parties).

A complete exclusion is utterly bizzare.

The banks are more important than the children.

Cookie_Monster

ANYONE leaking details of the Finance Minister's plans to deal with the banks under new legislation faces fines of up to €100,000 and a possible three-year jail term.

The secrecy surrounding the minister's dealings with the banks under the new Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Act was underlined yesterday when court proceedings were held in private.

Journalists were asked to leave the High Court as the Government sought an early morning hearing, held 'in camera', to deal with Allied Irish Bank (AIB).

There the Government secured an order allowing it to inject a further €3.7bn of state funds in to AIB -- a move that has led to its effective nationalisation.

Sensitive

The plan to inject further capital in to AIB had been widely publicised in the media. But a news blackout was imposed on the facts and contents of the court application.

A legal provision allows all or part of a court application under the new banking law to be held 'in camera' to protect the publication "of any material that might be commercially sensitive".

Restrictions can also be imposed on the publication or reporting of any commercially sensitive material disclosed in open court. The law also bans publication of the fact that the minister proposes to make or has made a proposed direction order.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/blackout-beefed-up-by-threat-of-euro100000-fine-and-jail-2473178.html

This is all getting very fascist...
The public have the right to know what's going on due to the massive exposure to AIB they face. I would have thought the above actions would serve only to further impact the share price and general confidence due the hidden nature of the dealings. I know if I had any money in AIB I'd be removing it because of this kind of secret carry on.