Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 27 May 2015

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis

Nexus Phase

Mr. Tony Grimes:

Yes. I think, first of all, any direct intervention ... restriction of money and capital flows would have been entirely at odds with the single capital market and single money market that was set up in 1999 as part of monetary union. I'm ... in fact, it would have been entirely contrary to the ethos of that. So, no is the answer ... no direct intervention. If there was concern - as there was, because it was raised at the time in the FSRs about the degree to which some of the banks were funding externally - I think, if there was concern, it would have to have been addressed by restrictions addressed to the individual banks in terms of their funding ratios. But ... but that would be at a level of individual banks. It could not have been a general banning of capital flows.