Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 5 November 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform

Overview of Banking Sector: Bank of Ireland

3:25 pm

Mr. Richie Boucher:

The overall group margin is 208 basis points. It has improved, but if it had remained below 200 basis points, we would not be in profit. That is an important factor. We are obliged to consider different products in terms of their maturity profiles. It is important for us to bear in mind the fact that in the context of a mortgage, we are taking deposits short in the market and making a commitment to the customer that we will lend to him or her. Therefore, we have a liquidity risk. In our asset classes, mortgages drive the single biggest liquidity risk. In the context of the UK market, one of the biggest strategic mistakes the bank made and our largest single issue was related to the liquidity risk it faced with its mortgage book there. We had grown the book, depended on securitisation markets and taken money on a three to five year basis. Liquidity risk is a factor.