Sixteen Davy staff involved in profiteering controversy leave firm

In correspondence to the Oireachtas finance committee, seen by the 'Irish Examiner', Davy’s interim CEO Bernard Byrne said none of the 16 individuals involved in profiting from Anglo Irish Bank bonds remains at the firm.

All of the 16 Davy staff involved in the 2014 profiteering controversy following the closure of its bond desk have left the firm, TDs will be told tomorrow.

The Government’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), which organises sales of sovereign bonds for the State, struck off Davy from its roster of primary dealers just days before a €1.5bn auction in which the scandal-hit broker was due to play a key part.

In correspondence to the Oireachtas finance committee, seen by the Irish Examiner, Davy’s interim CEO Bernard Byrne has said that none of the individuals involved remains at the firm.

Mr Byrne has written to say that, following the resignations of Brian McKiernan as CEO, Kyran McLaughlin as deputy chairman, and Barry Nangle as head of bonds, “all senior management involved in the transaction in 2014 have left the firm.”

“We've taken a decision to close the Davy bond desk with immediate effect with associated redundancies. Following the decision, none of the 16 individuals involved in the 2014 transaction, are working in Davy,” Mr Byrne wrote to committee chairman John McGuinness.

The Davy scandal highlighted "weak internal controls" when it came to conflicts of interest, the Central Bank will tell the committee.

Derville Rowland, the Central Bank's director general, financial conduct, will say Davy prioritised facilitating an opportunity for a consortium of 16 employees to make personal financial gain over ensuring that it was complying with its regulatory obligations.

Ireland’s largest broker was fined €4.1m last week by the Central Bank for its failure to supervise a group of 16 of its own employees in their 2014 profiting from personal dealings in the sale of Anglo Irish Bank bonds.