Resolving bank balance sheets is the way to move on

The Central Bank’s head of banking supervision, Fiona Muldoon, believes a culture of leadership is missing in Irish banks. Here is an edited version of her speech yesterday

LADIES and gentlemen, thank you for asking me to speak to you. I am conscious that I am your invited guest and so I will start by saying, that today I do not intend to speak of comfortable matters. I hope to provoke you a little, maybe even vex you.

You see, your conference blurb that speaks of a “sector that has been humbled” and “a leadership challenged to think again” set me to thinking and, rather than yet another speech on PRISM [Probability Risk and Impact System], or risk mitigation plans, or the Corporate Governance code, I thought I would instead try and speak a little bit to my perception of the conference theme: Namely Irish banks’ progress on restoring confidence and rebuilding trust.