The long-awaited final report of the six-year investigation by two court-appointed inspectors into the affairs of National Irish Bank Limited was presented to the High Court yesterday, writes Mary Carolan.
However, it will be at least another week before any details of the report's contents may be disclosed.
Mr Justice Kelly will now read the report and, at a hearing on July 21st, will make directions on a range of matters, including whether the report should be published in its entirety or whether parts of it should not be disclosed.
Pending the making of these and other directions, there can be no publication of any aspect of the 192-page report or its appendices, which run to some 200 pages.
At earlier court hearings, the judge was told some 23 persons were at risk of having adverse findings made against them in the report.
A copy of the report was given to Mr Justice Kelly yesterday by Mr Donal O'Donnell SC, for the inspectors Mr John Blayney, a former Supreme Court judge, and Mr Tom Grace, an accountant.
After an official of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, Mr Peter Durnin, undertook before the court that there would be no disclosure of any of the report's contents prior to court orders to that effect, the judge directed that a copy be made available to the Director.
Under the Companies Act 1990, the judge may, after reading the report, make directions as to its disclosure to certain parties. He may also direct that the report be published in its entirety or with some aspects of it redacted. The court also has discretion to order that the report be given to "any person whose conduct is referred to in the report".
The powers available to the court under the 1990 Act are considerable and extend to the making of winding up orders for a company investigated by inspectors.
In order to ensure that any affected persons and bodies are aware of their right to seek a copy of the report, the judge, on the application of the inspectors, directed that notice of the court hearing of any applications for copies of the report, on July 21st, be published in advertisements tomorrow in three national newspapers - The Irish Times, the Irish Independent and the Irish Examiner.
At the July 21st hearing, the judge will also make directions as to how the inspectors should deal with documents procured from NIB and other parties during the course of their investigation. On the separate application yesterday of Mr Richard Nesbitt SC, for NIB, the judge directed that he would on July 19th next hear the bank's application for a copy of the report.
In an affidavit, a solicitor for the bank said it was very anxious to receive the report. She said the report had given rise to speculation and the bank had to deal with the ramifications of the report and address the undoubted interest in it. The bank needed to be aware of the contents to take whatever steps were appropriate and to "proactively manage its response in the marketplace".
Since their appointment in March 1998, the inspectors, operating mainly from offices in PricewaterhouseCoopers, have been investigating the affairs of NIB. In June 1998, the scope of their investigation was extended to include the affairs of National Irish Bank Financial Services Limited. During the six-year investigation, they have submitted eight interim reports.
Under their order of appointment, made on the application of the Tánaiste and then Minister for Enterprise and Development, Ms Harney, the inspectors were to report and investigate on the affairs of NIB from 1988 relating to improper charging of interest and fees to the accounts of customers; improper removal of funds from accounts; and all steps taken by NIB, its directors and officers, in relation to the charging of such fees and interest or the removal of any funds.
The inspectors were further directed to investigate the books and records of NIB and whether other unlawful or improper practices existed from 1988 or exist "which serve to encourage the evasion of any Revenue or other obligations on the part of the bank or third parties".
Matters relating to National Irish Bank Financial Services Ltd, including the effecting of policies of life assurance on behalf of its customers with Clerical Medical International Insurance Ltd, were also to be investigated.
When the inspection was mentioned before the court last February, Mr O'Donnell, for the inspectors, said they were concerned at the length of time the investigation had been taking. Counsel for the bank said it had made substantial efforts to meet the inspectors' concerns.
In April last, Mr O'Donnell said a timescale set for the bank to respond to a draft report of the inspectors had been adhered to. In fact, the bank's response had been made on March 24th last, prior to the March 31st deadline which had been set, he said.
In those circumstances, the inspectors expected to be able to present the final report to the court by the end of the current law year on July 31st and perhaps would "better that", counsel said.
During another hearing in July 2003 at which another interim report was presented, Mr Justice Kelly remarked that it was "unfortunate" that the inspectors had not received the kind of co-operation they should have expected.
However, he stressed, the delay in producing the inspectors' final report was no fault of the bank's.
Although the inspectors had given generous time limits to 23 persons who were at risk of having adverse findings made against them to make submissions to the inspectors, not all of those 23 had at that point adhered to the time limits, the judge noted.
