Ireland merges Anglo Irish under bank overhaul

Two of Ireland's most debt-laden financial institutions, Anglo Irish Bank and the Irish Nation-wide Building Society, merged on Friday under the government's radical overhaul of the country's lenders. The merger, creating the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), is a "key element of the government's restructuring of the Irish banking system," Finance Minister Michael Noonan said on Friday.
Noonan said the name change was important to "remove the negative international references associated with the appalling failings of both institutions and their previous managements." On Wednesday, the European Commission cleared a bailout plan for the two troubled institutions which are to be sold off over a decade. Both institutions received massive state support during the global financial crisis after over-exposure to the loan and property sector caused their downfall.