Imposing regulation - A week that showed us the future

A NUMBER of events conspired this week to suggest the future just might be different, in very important ways, to the past. It is not overstating the case to suggest they might even be a cause for minor celebration.

Nevertheless, it would be foolish to imagine they are anything more than the very first steps towards a long and challenging remaking of how business is conducted in this country. An essential remaking that will ensure that business understands and observes responsibilities beyond those owed to shareholders; a remaking that must restore social responsibility to commercial life, especially banking.

The first of these was when National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) chief executive Brendan McDonagh and Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield briefed Oireachtas committees. Both were frank and impressive. They seemed to represent a determination and tenacity so long absent — or tacitly discouraged by senior politicians — in financial regulation.