The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation is the name given to the entity formed in 2011 by the court-mandated merger of the state-owned banking institutions Anglo Irish Bank

Anglo Irish Bank

Anglo Irish Bank was a bank based in Ireland with its headquarters in Dublin from 1964 to 2011. It went into wind-down mode after nationalisation in 2009....

 and Irish Nationwide Building Society.

It was formed on 1 July 2011, following a High Court order on the application of the Minister for Finance

Minister for Finance (Ireland)

The Minister for Finance is the title held by the Irish government minister responsible for all financial and monetary matters. The office-holder controls the Department of Finance and is considered one of the most important members of the Government of Ireland.The current Minister for Finance is...

 Michael Noonan

Michael Noonan

Michael Noonan is an Irish Fine Gael politician and has been the Minister for Finance since March 2011. He has been a Teachta Dála for the Limerick East and later Limerick City constituencies since 1981....

.

History

Irish Nationwide Building Society had been effectively nationalized in August 2010 after receiving a €5.4bn government bailout., while Anglo Irish had been taken into state ownership in January 2009. The two institutions had been widely criticised for their role in the risky lending practices which led to the Irish banking crisis.

The removal of both failed banks from the Irish banking system was a key objective for the new Fine Gael

Fine Gael

Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...

-led government. Finance Minister Michael Noonan made an application to the High Court using his powers under the Credit Institutions (Stabilization) Act 2010, requesting that the assets and liabilities of INBS be immediately transferred to Anglo Irish Bank.

The newly merged entity was named the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. The Finance Minister stated that the new name was important to remove the "negative international references associated with the appalling failings of both institutions and their previous managements".