Sean FitzPatrick, the former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, is unwinding positions in a large number of property investments and investment funds as he seeks to pay down €106.8m of debt owed to his former employers.

The bank has "full personal recourse'' to FitzPatrick for the loans, although last week it declined to comment on a report which claimed FitzPatrick had fallen behind on his repayments. Those close to FitzPatrick said he was trying to exit from certain investments in order to use the resources to pay down the loans, which the bank claims were extended at "commercial interest rates''.

FitzPatrick's loans are being managed by staff appointed since chief executive Mike Aynsley arrived at the bank. This is following an instruction that the loans cannot be managed in any way by staff members with any potential conflicts or previous associations with the loans.

Meanwhile, according to Anglo filings, directors of the bank have agreements in place to obtain another €5m of funds in the current financial year.