A FORMER boss of Anglo Irish Bank currently being pursued for a €6m retirement payoff is listed on the Board of Directors at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith.
Dublin native John Rowan, 55, left the bank three years before its collapse in 2008 and had no involvement with the bank during the period featured in the Anglo Tapes.
But he is being pursued by IRBC to repay a chunk of his retirement pay-off.
A biography, on the Hammersmith centre’s website, describes Mr Rowan as a retired banker and a Trustee of the Ireland Fund of Great Britain who chairs the fundraising campaign for the elderly and vulnerable Irish in Britain.
Mr Rowan left the bank after former Anglo colleague David Drumm beat him in the post of chief executive in 2005.
He ran Anglo’s British operations for almost two decades, building up the business from 1988 until it represented more than a third of the bank’s profits at the time of his resignation.
IBRC is claiming that the resignation agreement drawn up for Mr Rowan does not comply with the Companies Act because it wasn’t approved by a general meeting of the bank.
In an affidavit, Mr Rowan has said he is “horrified” that the bank is now seeking repayment more than seven years after he stepped down from Anglo, pointing out that it was not until late 2011 that IBRC claimed his retirement package was unlawful.
Enjoying a salary in excess of €400,000 in his final years at Anglo, Mr Rowan was also paid bonuses totalling almost €2m over 2004 and 2005, The Irish Independent reported .
