Ms Derville Rowland:

There are a number of component parts to answer the Deputy's question. He must forgive me, I do not wish to be unhelpful but I will repeat that this is very much a live supervisory matter. I appreciate and understand the legitimate concern he has about some of these issues but I cannot be drawn on possible regulatory actions. What I can say is that the administrative sanctions procedure is a punishment-based procedure. It is about imposing punitive measures on firms where they have broken the rules. We have taken a case against Davy, the firm, in this enforcement outcome. They are the penalties that people see and the detail of the course of conduct. The way the scheme is set up is that the obligations of regulation are obligations that rest on the firm. Once that is done, one can turn to considering participation cases, which is the route through to individual accountability. I have said previously in other cases the Central Bank has a track record of going to the High Court and other courts to vindicate our right to take those cases and we have a track record of bringing those cases even in the face of complex information and complex litigation. We are committed to doing that where possible to do so.

The Central Bank has another option, as the Deputy will be aware, namely, the fitness and probity option. That is a protective scheme; it is not a punishment-based scheme. It is about ensuring that those who hold senior roles in financial services have the requisite degree of skill, competence and integrity, etc. There is a challenge when people are not in the system that they will face when they come back in, or seek to come back into the system, where any information adverse to their integrity, competence, or capability will be used against them or where people are in situthere is an option to remove it. Another very important option is section 21, the third pillar of that scheme, where the firms themselves are held accountable and responsible for ensuring that the people who work for them are fit and proper. That is an important part. We do say that Davy has come out and said that none of the persons associated with this transaction are now working for it.