Honohan concerned state bank did not need licence

The Government dropped the term ‘bank’ from its Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) after concerns were expressed by Central Bank governor, Patrick Honohan.

This is revealed in correspondence between Mr Honohan and Minister for Finance Michael Noonan on the launch of the corporation, which the Government initially labelled the ‘Strategic Investment Bank’.

The Government last year established the SBCI with an initial €800m of funding to be made available in loans for the SME sector.