Single financial regulator to take a systemic view of sector, officials claim
Kevin Cardiff, William Beausang and John Hogan appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs, to present progress made on regulatory reform, in particular the framework for a new body announced by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan last month.
The questioning focused on whether a combined Central Bank of Ireland Commission would bring about changes in transparency or accountability.
Mr Cardiff said it would address three main aspects: structure, the culture within that structure and the availability of necessary skills.
“Legislation tends to be down to structural issues, but the structure is not all that is changing. There is an extensive process of change involved here,” he said.
He acknowledged that a single regulatory body held obvious similarities with the framework in place here in the early part of this decade, but said the new version would include the necessary expertise. Both the department and the regulator have admitted that the current level of expertise has not been sufficient.
“The key change to the regulatory framework is the establishment of a single fully-integrated regulatory institution which will be responsible for both the supervision of individual firms and the stability of the financial system, generally,” Mr Beausang added.
Asked whether last year’s controversial loans between Irish Life & Permanent and Anglo Irish Bank, made to make Anglo’s balance sheet look healthy, were permitted at present, Mr Cardiff said while normal inter-bank lending continued to be encouraged, no improper activity was known about, nor encouraged.
Yesterday’s meeting came a day after the committee heard how Sweden’s government effectively managed their banking crisis of the mid-1990s.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
