Professor Philip Lane:

It is important to look at the structure. Ireland does play a big role in European activities of special purpose entities and different types of investment vehicle. That is the reality. For several years we, in the Central Bank, have worked quite hard to try to shine a light on that activity. We gather information on much of it which most countries do not collect. The Central Bank has published quite an amount of material, highlighting the geographical patterns and the role of Russian entities here. It is something at which we have a responsibility to look and explain. We are playing a big part in the international shadow banking work being done at the Financial Stability Board and so on. The Central Bank is very alive in looking at it. It goes back to the issue of the global financial system and the legal framework in place. Ireland is recognised as having accumulated expertise among its lawyers and accountants on the operations of these vehicles.