‘Bank loan book sale must continue’

FINANCIAL Regulator Matthew Elderfield has stated that forcing banks to sell off their loan books quickly would result in huge losses, but conceded that the process must continue.

Mr Elderfield said: “Forced deleveraging, at an unrealistic pace, would crystallise huge losses by selling assets into depressed markets. But, it is also critical that the deleveraging process moves ahead as swiftly as practicable.

“There are no easy choices or no overnight solutions. The process of deleveraging and of reducing reliance on Central Bank funding will take time,” Mr Elderfield told the Foresight Business Group at Trinity College Dublin, yesterday.