Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 2 September 2015
Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis
Nexus Phase
Mr. Michael Walsh:
So, you know, loans above €1 million at all stages had to come to the board; capital expenditure decisions above certain levels had to come to the board; treasury policy had to be approved by the board; the list of people who are actually approved institutions had to be approved by the board. So there was a whole fabric of things that were reserved to the board. I mean, I think what is interesting is, you know, there is a governance report there from KPMG. And, you know, buried at the back of that governance report is a recommended list of reserved powers for boards of directors. And, you know, if you actually go through that - and, you know, I don't want to take your time; you actually have that, I think, as part of your wider documents, but all of the things that were reserved for the Irish Nationwide board were things that would have been recommended by KPMG in their report in - whenever it was - October or November of 2008. Now, many of those powers that KPMG advised should be reserved to the board wouldn't have been relevant in the context of the society, such as the final dividend, but things like the annual report and accounts, circulars to shareholders etc., etc., etc., were all powers that were specifically reserved to the board and always held by the board over the period.
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