Setting Appleby’s record straight

I refer to the article by Matt Cooper on Friday, Feb 3, entitled “Appleby’s successor will need to be more proactive with investigations.”

As the article is based on a number of incorrect assumptions, I wish to set the record straight for the benefit of your readers.

Mr Cooper asks “What has [Mr Appleby] done, for example, about what went on at Irish Nationwide?” The simple answer is that INBS was a building society, not a company, and the ODCE has never been given any role to enforce the law relating to building societies. As such, Mr Cooper’s later comment that “It is to be hoped that his eventual replacement is a little bit more proactive” is entirely misconceived.