The Director of Corporate Enforcement is seeking documents from the inspectors who investigated the National Irish Bank tax evasion scandal of the 1990s, including any documents indicating that the operational environment of the bank was "target driven" and that managers felt under pressure to achieve "unreasonable" targets.
The application for access to or discovery of the documents, which the director wants to support his application for orders disqualifying eight former senior NIB directors and managers from involvement in the management of any company, will be heard on December 13th by the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly directed yesterday.
The director brought the disqualification proceedings following publication in July 2004 of the report of the inspectors on the affairs of NIB and NIB Financial Services Ltd between 1988 and 1998. The inspectors concluded both NIB and NIBFS were involved in a number of improper practices which enabled customers to evade tax and that responsibility for the improper practices rested with the senior management of the bank during the 10-year period covered by the inspectors' investigation.
The director's motion for discovery was brought after receiving defences from a number of the respondents in which they disputed adverse findings of the inspectors in relation to themselves. The court has heard the director does not accept that the respondents can make complaints about the findings of the inspectors' report and he is seeking the documents from the inspectors to address the defences received.
In the discovery application, the director wants all documents relevant to the inspectors' adverse findings against the respondents. He wants all documents indicating to whom Mr Patrick Byrne, one of the respondents, reported within NIB for the duration of his tenure at the bank as head of finance or any similar role, the extent to which he formed part of the senior management of the bank in that period and the extent and nature of his responsibility.
Other documents sought are all those relevant to the inspectors' finding that responsibility for the improper practices in the bank rested with senior management rather than branch managers, including any documents indicating that the operational environment of the bank was target-driven.
The eight respondents are: Jim Lacey, Pine Haven, Grove House Gardens, Blackrock, Co Dublin; Barry Seymour, Beaumond, Amersham, Bucks, England; Dermott Boner, Chesterfield Avenue, Castleknock, Dublin; Michael Keane, Corr Castle, Howth, Co Dublin; Frank Brennan, Ardglass, Dundrum, Dublin; Tom McMenamin, College Grove, Castleknock, Dublin; Patrick Byrne, St Helen's Road, Booterstown, Co Dublin, and Kevin Curran, Avondale Court, Blackrock, Co Dublin.
A similar disqualification application was brought by the director against another former NIB executive, Nigel D'Arcy of Castledillon, Straffan, Co Kildare. However, Mr D'Arcy did not oppose the application and an order was made last month disqualifying him from involvement in the management of any company for 10 years.
