Stock market increases reveal history of poor controls

Over 10 years ago, just when the bank lending boom was getting under way, the then Competition Authority launched a report investigating the structure of the financial industry here.

On the day of publication of its final report, the shares of many of the Irish banks rose on the Dublin stock market.

Analysts at the time said that those stock market increases told us all we needed to know about the study — there was little in the report that would hurt the banks or impose new regulations.