AN INTERESTING note in the recently filed 2007 accounts for Quinn Group, the company behind Seán Quinn's various businesses, states that the amount earned by the firm's highest paid director jumped to €701,318 from €413,779.
A spokesman for the group was unable to shed light on who this might be, but said it was fair to presume that it was Mr Quinn.
If so, it seems odd that in a year when the group was forced to write off €829 million from bad stock market investments, its chairman should receive a 69 per cent pay rise.
The stake of almost 15 per cent in Anglo Irish Bank held by Mr Quinn, his wife and five children - the investment that accounts for the lion's share of these losses - was worth almost €265 million yesterday. This is still way down on the €715 million the family paid for the stake in the bank.
Quinn Group said the €288 million in loans provided by Quinn Insurance, parent company of Quinn Direct and Quinn Healthcare (formerly Bupa Ireland), which was used to invest in Anglo, "materially reduced" the firm's minimum statutory solvency margin. This loan led to the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority imposing a record fine of €3.25 million on the company and €200,000 on Mr Quinn.
The company failed to notify the regulator of the inter-company loan, as it was supposed to do.
Insurers can replace cash sitting as collateral against possible claims with inter-company loans, but they must set aside a higher value in loans due to the inherent risks associated with them.The loans have since been repaid.
