An accountancy watchdog body has appointed former Comptroller & Auditor General John Purcell as a special investigator into issues surrounding Anglo Irish Bank.
Mr Purcell has been appointed by the Complaints Committee of the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (CARB). This body was set up by the Institute of Chartered Accountants to regulate its members. A majority of its members are non-accountants.
Mr Purcell will look into issues surrounding directors' loans 'and other matters at Anglo Irish Bank' to see if there were breaches of ICAI rules by its members or member firms.
He will focus on loans made to the bank to former chairman Sean FitzPatrick, after it emerged that he had transferred the loans to Irish Nationwide before the end of the financial year, effectively hiding them from public view.
Mr FitzPatrick, former chief executive David Drumm and former finance director Willie McAteer - who all resigned from Anglo Irish - are all members of the ICAI.
Mr Purcell will also examine the performance of the bank's auditors, Ernst & Young, in relation to its handling of Anglo Irish Bank's accounts. Ernst & Young is a member of the ICAI. If Mr Purcell believes there is a case to answer, the matter is automatically referred to a disciplinary tribunal.
The Complaints Committee is looking separately at the involvement of ICAI members in the issues surrounding Irish Life & Permanent's controversial deposits with Anglo Irish Bank.
