Irish bankers on trial for financial collapse

In the US, there’s a persistent criticism is that no high-level Wall Street executives went to jail for their role in the 2008 financial collapse. That may not, in the end, be the case in Ireland.

The former chairman and CEO of Anglo Irish Bank, Sean FitzPatrick, and two deputies go on trial today in Dublin for allegedly trying to pump up the bank’s share price.  The trial is described as one of the most complex in Ireland’s history.  There’s intense public interest because the Irish government’s fateful decision to bail out banks like Anglo Irish five years ago essentially bankrupted the country.

The BBC’s Diamaid Fleming joined us from Dublin to give some perspective. Click play above to hear the interview.