Anglo Irish Bank chief executive Mr Sean FitzPatrick has raised €27.6 million by selling some two million shares in the bank. Mr FitzPatrick placed the shares, which represented just less than half of his total holding, at €13.35 yesterday.

The sale price represented a 3 per cent discount on Anglo Irish's Monday closing price.

Mr FitzPatrick was one of three Anglo Irish directors to sell stock yesterday, with UK managing director Mr Peter Rowan and retiring head of group risk management, Mr Peter Killen, also participating in the placing.

Mr Rowan raised €3.2 million by selling 237,500 shares, while Mr Killen raised €9.3 million through the disposal of 700,000 shares, or about half of his stake.

Anglo Irish finance director Mr Willie McAteer said yesterday that each of the share sales had been made for personal reasons.

He said Mr FitzPatrick, who is expected to retire from Anglo Irish within the year, simply wanted to unlock some of his wealth from the bank.

He pointed out that Mr FitzPatrick continued to hold more equity in Anglo Irish than all the directors of another leading Irish bank put together.

In an interview with The Irish Times last month, Mr FitzPatrick acknowledged that the creation of wealth among Anglo Irish staff acted as a significant motivator within the bank.

"There are a lot of millionaires in this bank and so it's really a case of pointing them out and saying 'this is what has happened to them'. They are able to spend that money, send their kids to the best schools, live in a nice house, buy their big cars. They are held up as role models because it is possible for younger people to achieve that," he said.

Mr Killen, who formally retired from Anglo Irish on Monday, has sold his shares so that he can "clear off debt", according to Mr McAteer.

Mr Rowan, meanwhile, has recently moved home and is expected to cover expenses with some of his proceeds.

Mr McAteer said the bank had decided to inform the market about the placing yesterday rather than today, which would have been normal, so that the sales could be conducted in a completely transparent manner.

The offer is believed to have attracted solid demand from both domestic and international investors. Shares in Anglo closed at €13.35 last night, down 40 cents.

The stock has more than doubled its value over the past year as Anglo's results have consistently outperformed expectations

The bank reported a full-year pre-tax profit of €346.5 million for 2003, up 33 per cent on the previous year.