Discovered in the archives by Nama Wine Lake:

One of the country’s leading law firms, Matheson Ormsby Prentice, advised the board of Anglo Irish Bank in July 2008 that the loans to the children of Seán Quinn to buy shares in the bank did not breach company law or constitute “unlawful financial assistance”.

According to a letter from the firm to the directors of Anglo, the law firm advised the bank on unwinding Mr Quinn’s investment in the bank through contracts for difference (CFDs) and the purchase of a stake of 14.3 per cent spread among his five children.

…Anglo’s private placing of the shares by means of loans helped to prop up the share price at a critical stage of the financial crisis.

The bank’s former management maintain that they secured legal advice and notified the Financial Regulator of the transactions.

The regulator maintains that it was misled on the transactions.

The advice included arrangements on the purchase by each of Mr Quinn’s children of about 2.85 per cent of the shares in Anglo.

…They said on the basis that there were no arrangements between the Quinn shareholders and that none of them would be able to exercise “significant influence over the bank”, the share purchases do not require notification to the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland.

However, they noted that “the bank has kept the Financial Regulator informed of the transaction”.

Anglo Board Told Quinn Loans Not Unlawful (Irish Times, October 10, 2010) Behind paywall.