Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm applies for voluntary bankruptcy in US

The former chief executive of Ireland's "toxic bank", Anglo Irish, has applied for voluntary bankruptcy in the US. David Drumm's move comes 10 days ahead of a court case taken by his former employers over a debt of €8.3m (£7.3m) and three months after the chairman of the bank, Sean Fitzpatrick, was declared bankrupt. The commercial court in Dublin heard that Drumm had made a settlement offer in excess of €2m to the now-nationalised bank that was rejected last Friday. The offer included all his assets, including half of his luxury six-bedroom, five-bathroom house in Malahide, north Dublin, which he tried to transfer wholly to his wife's name to prevent it being seized by the bank last year. He also reportedly offered his pension rights and the transfer of his home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he now lives. Drumm's lawyers told the commercial court in Dublin that he had bent over backwards to accommodate the Irish court proceedings. Lawyers for Anglo-Irish said it was "bit rich" for Drumm to attempt to take the high moral ground. It is not clear what will now happen with regard to the Irish proceedings, but it is already being reported that the move means Anglo-Irish will not be able to access Drumm's pension assets.