Leading Irish firm Arthur Cox has been appointed lead legal adviser on the nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank.

This week the Irish Government announced it was to seize control of the country's third-biggest lender in a bid to restore confidence in the country's banking system after shelving plans for a €1.5bn (£1.4bn) capital injection into the stricken lender.

The Labour Party is tabling a bill today (20 January) which will ultimately pave the way for the nationalisation of the bank.

Arthur Cox managing partner Padraig O'Riordain (pictured) is leading the firm's team, alongside capital markets partner Cormac Kissane and corporate partners Thomas Courtney and Ciaran Bolger.

Shares in the bank were suspended last week (16 January) in the wake of the scandal over revelations that the bank's former chairman Sean FitzPatrick – who left last month – had hidden the value of personal loans of up to €129m (£119m) that he had taken from the business buy shares, fund property deals and invest in pensions and film projects.

Ireland's top two lenders, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish, are still expecting €2bn in capital injections from the Government in the coming weeks.