Allied Irish Banks (AIB) has insisted that it can weather a $750m (€865m) foreign exchange fraud at one of its US subsidiaries which wiped as much as €2.8bn off the bank's market value after it was announced.
AIB moved quickly to allay any concern that the largest single securities fraud since the collapse of Barings in 1995 would severely damage the bank. Michael Buckley, chief executive of AIB, said: "This a very heavy blow to AIB, but it is a blow that we can sustain. We have a very good core business which will become clear when we announce our 2001 results."
