There was a certain inevitability about the emergence of a link between disgraced Italian food group Parmalat and the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin.
Given Dublin's pre-eminence in the provision of offshore financial services, it would have been surprising if the intricate web of companies used by Parmalat did not have an Irish dimension. More than half of the world's top 50 banks operate in the centre, with another 350 entities providing treasury services to their parent groups.
One such company is the Parmalat subsidiary, Eurofood IFSC. Its role in what is being called Europe's Enron is unclear, but a number of facts are known. The most significant being that Eurofood's two executive directors, Mr Fausto Tonna and Mr Luciano del Soldato, are now central figures in the investigation being carried out by the Italian authorities.
The two former finance directors are under arrest in Italy while the authorities attempt to understand the complex corporate structures they put in place along with the company chairman, Mr Calisto Tanzi. Within this structure is the black hole into which some €10 billion in assets are thought to have disappeared.
Amongst the issues being explored in this context is the provision of finance by Parmalat subsidiaries to one another. In addition the Italian magistrates are looking at the use of loans secured on deposits, and various fund- raising exercises.
Eurofood undertook this type of activity for Parmalat, but it should be stressed there is no evidence of anything untoward taking place in this jurisdiction.
It will be some time before the full facts emerge, but in the meantime a number of issues have been raised for the Irish authorities, the most significant being potential damage to the reputation of the IFSC.
There would appear to be a very light touch taken to the regulation of companies such as Eurofood which are licensed to carry on business in the centre by the Department of Finance, but fall within the bailiwick of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
Although Dublin offers much the same services as the other well-known and somewhat infamous off shore centres, such as the Isle of Man and the Cayman Islands, it has to date avoided being tarred with the same brush. The main reason being the perception that companies operating here are subject to the sort of regulatory rigour that would be expected of a member of the European Union.
When the truth is known about Parmalat and Eurofood's role in events, it is to be hoped that Dublin does not find itself cast in a somewhat different light.