National Irish Bank was rounded on last night after the findings of the two High Court Inspectors were published yesterday.

AIB IS to set up a confidential whistle-blowers' helpline to avert further scandals. Chief executive Michael Buckley admitted there was a culture of self-censorship in the bank.

More than 11,000 calls were made to the consumer help-line of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority in its first year of operation.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was stating the obvious when, in an RTÉ radio interview yesterday, he said that breaches of the tax laws by AIB executives must be fully investigated.

AIB group chief executive Micheal Buckley is under mounting pressure following the sudden resignations of two major figures in Irish banking over the weekend.

TOUGH new measures going though the Dáil cannot be used to punish AIB for overcharging its customers €20 million on their foreign exchange transactions.

Depositing E25 million with the Central Bank does not constitute a grand gesture on the part of Allied Irish Bank towards the foreign exchange customers it bilked.

The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority will tomorrow publish a public consultation paper on mandatory competency requirements for those who provide advice on, or who sell, retail financial products.

The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority is to introduce mandatory competency requirements for sales staff to be introduced by January 2005.

Registrar of credit unions, Brendan Logue and Chief Executive of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, Liam O'Reilly will hold a series of meetings with credit unions throughout the country to discuss issues and challenges facing credit unions in the coming years.

The registrar of credit unions, Brendan Logue, and chief executive of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, Liam O'Reilly, will hold a series of meetings with credit unions throughout the country to discuss issues and challenges facing credit unions in the coming years.

Eurofood IFSC Limited, an Irish subsidiary of Parmalat, which provided financing facilities for companies in the group, is still being investigated by Italian authorities.

THE appointment of a new watchdog to crack down on banks and insurance firms that mislead customers over the risks of investing in money-making schemes should be warmly welcomed.