Mr. Brian Patterson:

In my mind, the responsibilities were very clear. The Financial Regulator was responsible for the supervision and regulation of the individual banks. The Central Bank was responsible for overall systemic financial stability; quite clear, okay? Because the two organisations had this very complex dividing line, I think, looking back on it, that what happened was some of the accountabilities fell between two stools. Easier to see in hindsight, but at the time I guess we didn't realise this. And the financial stability report, which was where all this was supposed to come together, didn't actually do the business. And I think it was for this reason: were there concerns within the boards of the regulator and the Central Bank about the degree of bank lending and the risks they were taking? Yes, there were. There were concerns, and they were often voiced.