Unite union backs bondholder inquiry

BeardyFunzo

Though I suspect that the investigation will show that many of the bond holders are pension funds, insurance companies and so forth it would be interesting to see if anyone directly linked to the bank guarantee (government or banking entities) will be revealed.

Many people know that we owe the bondholders, but I'm sure not many people know what they are!

A senior university academic is heading up an independent investigation into the mystery bondholders behind Ireland’s crushing national debt.

The probe, backed by leading trade union Unite as well as debt and justice campaigns, is expected to report preliminary findings by the end of next month.

A team of three researchers, led by Dr Sheila Killian, head of the department of accounting and finance at the University of Limerick, are hoping to uncover who is owed the massive banking debts taken on by Irish taxpayers.

Read more: http://breakingnews.ie/ireland/unite-union-backs-bondholder-inquiry-503746.html#ixzz1LQ76muV5

Amhran Nua

BeardyFunzo wrote: »

Though I suspect that the investigation will show that many of the bond holders are pension funds, insurance companies and so forth it would be interesting to see if anyone directly linked to the bank guarantee (government or banking entities) will be revealed.

I'd support this. One oft quoted figure is that many of the bonds are now in the hands of Irish owners, but as Karl Whelan puts it:

So, for example, if an Irish bank issues debt that is held by an Irish resident firm Custodian Plc who manage the payment streams, but the ultimate beneficial owner of the debt (who ultimately gets the coupon payments, etc.) is a German pension fund, then the Central Bank statistics will report the debt securities as being held by Irish residents.

Scofflaw

Undeniably welcome. One can only go so far with the currently available information - as people have said, we cannot rule out that an apparently Irish-held bond is actually held on behalf of an institutions somewhere else, although people do seem very willing to believe that despite a complete lack of evidence thus far that it's the case.

One point, though, which is finding who they are now owned by is not necessarily the same as finding who they were owed to in September 2008, which to my mind is the more relevant figure, since those are the bondholders who largely have been paid off. Hopefully the investigation will cover that date as well as the present situation.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Sand

I think if Unite was seeking out the reason why the Irish state was taking such extraordinary actions to preserve and maintain bondholders, seeking out potential vested interests corrupting the decisions making process...they might save themselves some time by starting closer to home.

After all, Ireland cant pay Unites demands dependant on the resources offered by the Irish taxpayer. To satisfy Unites demands, Ireland needs to borrow and borrow and borrow, and that means keeping the bondholders sweet.

Finnbar01

Two words. Secondary market.

Scofflaw

Finnbar01 wrote: »

Two words. Secondary market.

True - there's elements here of pulling on a rope in the sand.

cordially,
Scofflaw

fred252

Scofflaw wrote: »

Undeniably welcome. One can only go so far with the currently available information - as people have said, we cannot rule out that an apparently Irish-held bond is actually held on behalf of an institutions somewhere else, although people do seem very willing to believe that despite a complete lack of evidence thus far that it's the case.

One point, though, which is finding who they are now owned by is not necessarily the same as finding who they were owed to in September 2008, which to my mind is the more relevant figure, since those are the bondholders who largely have been paid off. Hopefully the investigation will cover that date as well as the present situation.

cordially,
Scofflaw

i don't see why the question of who owns the bonds is relevant to whether they should have had their "investments" written down or not?

i remember in the run up to the election many politicians were pointing out that many of these bonds were held by irish pension funds. so what? the state shouldn't be protecting pension funds.