A WIDE-RANGING mortgage debt forgiveness scheme or partial write-off of loans for anybody not making repayments would “open the floodgates” for those who did not really need help, Finance Minister Michael Noonan warned.

Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield has today called for the scrapping of caps on bankers' pay.

A study into the banking crisis by Finnish expert Peter Nyberg has found that lenders at Anglo Irish Bank "commonly ignored their own rules" on loan policy.

NAMA chief executive Brendan McDonagh has a duty to make an official complaint to relevant authorities, if he has information banks misled the agency about property loans, a Fianna Fáil TD said.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has told people his cuts programme will hurt but would not wipe out the positive changes of the Celtic Tiger years.

Ireland’s credit unions face being wiped out and replaced with a handful of “Tesco-type” super lenders, it was warned tonight.

The Financial Regulator will today outline measures his office is taking to ensure that the country's financial institutions are more vigorously supervised.

The Central Bank has said the final bill for Anglo Irish Bank means another €5bn is needed from the taxpayer, bringing the total to €29.3bn.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen insisted today that he still does not know how much Anglo Irish Bank will cost the taxpayer – but suggested it could be around €30bn.

Environment Minister John Gormley has rubbished a report in the Financial Times which described as flawed the Government's approach to winding down Anglo Irish Bank.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen tonight insisted he stood by a €440bn State guarantee given to Irish banks at the height of the global financial crisis.

The Governor of the Central Bank has said that former Financial Regulator Patrick Neary was not the only person who made mistakes in the run-up to the current financial crisis.

The Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield is warning insurance companies to be ready for new regulations on solvency.

KEY documentation from the night the Government decided to include Anglo Irish Bank in its guarantee scheme will not be released to the banking inquiry.

IN an unpopular government, Brian Lenihan remains a relatively popular minister, so much so that the opposition seems to have decided he is not worth attacking personally, even over NAMA or Anglo Irish Bank, issues where he has not covered himself in glory, or the public sector pay cuts which he has forced through to much divided opinion.

SOME concerns exist regarding a number of credit unions, the registrar for the sector Brendan Logue, said yesterday.

NAMA officials will have to inform the gardaí, Revenue Commissioners, Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Competition Authority if they find evidence of criminal activity in the course of their work – regardless of any existing confidentiality agreements.

The former Financial Regulator Patrick Neary could be set to face another grilling before the Oireachtas committee on economic and regulatory affairs.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has dismissed as a “juvenile conspiracy theory” claims he was protecting the golden circle of 10 investors who were given e300m by Anglo to buy bank shares.

Fine Gael today demanded to see the loan books of Bank of Ireland and AIB before it backs the Government’s latest recapitalisation plan.

THE former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, Sean FitzPatrick, is to be called to appear before an Oireachtas committee probing the bank’s meltdown.

IT was Bank of Ireland’s turn to take a hit yesterday on a day AIB shares soared 26%.

Auditors who checked the annual accounts of Anglo Irish Bank should have spotted secret multi-million euro loans, Financial Regulator Patrick Neary said today.

The Green Party wants to see more powers to regulate the financial system.

The Government is going to provide €1.5 billion for Anglo Irish Bank and €2bn each for Bank of Ireland and AIB Bank.

THE “toast of the bankers” scheme needs more Dáil scrutiny and accountability to the public, the opposition argued yesterday.

Festive shoppers were today warned to step up security measures as it was revealed one in 20 people take no precautions using bank cards.