Trading in AIB can be a dangerous game

AIB's tiny free float of traded shares has been giving an inflated impression of the bank's market value since 2012 – and now retail investors are getting caught

Inflated trading levels in just 0.2 per cent of shares has led to a false valuation of over Euro 50 billion – when the reality is about Euro 4 billionBloomberg

Much like the pain from a phantom limb, the free float of AIB shares – that is, the shares not held by the government – has continued to trade since the bank was effectively nationalised.

The bank's shares have been the subject of increased investor interest lately, boosting both trading volume and share price, but market experts believe the shares have little real value.

Those experts say that the existence of the small ...