The Financial Regulator is to appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs on January 7th, 2009
According to an Oireachtas statement released today, Patrick Neary will answer questions on its role in dealing with the banking crisis, policing the financial services industry and, in particular, its role in the directors’ loans controversy at Anglo Irish Bank.
Announcing the move, Michael Moynihan TD, chair of the Committee on Economic and Regulatory Affairs, said: “The financial regulator has been criticised strongly for his role in the scandal surrounding directors’ loans at Anglo Irish Bank.
“The committee will want to know why his office, which knew last January about €87 million in loans that former chairman Sean Fitzpatrick had avoided disclosing in bank’s annual accounts over an eight year period, failed to alert the Minister for Finance especially at a time when the Minister was negotiating with the banks on the bank guarantee scheme and recapitalisation.
“Given the fact that, in recent months, the Irish banks came close to collapse and required a ?400 billion guarantee from the Government followed by this weekend’s recapitalisation scheme, concerns have been raised about the role of the regulator in supervising the banking system and whether the regulator’s checks and balances are adequate to deal with the sector and whether it failed to curb excessive and reckless lending by the banks.”
Mr Moynihan said the committee would be seeking “a comprehensive explanation of the events of the past week, as well as asking questions about the broader supervision of the banking system”.