Results 3,021-3,040 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: So, thank you, Chairman and thanks again, Ms Burke. So, the Bank of Ireland reply that you spoke about with Senator O'Keeffe ... "we felt comfortable" ... I mean, that seems very strange to the outsider, you know, if-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: Yes. Just to ... I appreciate what Ms Burke was attempting in the letter but, I mean, would I say to a policeman "I feel comfortable driving down the middle of the road. You know, thank you for the advice that I should really be on the left". I mean, it is normal way to react to a regulator to say "Well, we feel comfortable doing something else"?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: Thank you.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: Was there a general reluctance to be regulated in the industry?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: And as you say on your statement to us ... sorry, mine hasn't got page numbers. It's on page-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: It's on page 3, "it should be noted [the] standards were non-statutory and [therefore] not enforceable". Was it ever considered that we'd better get around to Leinster House and get some legislation, because if this is not enforceable, well, we couldn't have predicted what happened in 29 September 2008 but was a more organised system ever considered?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: You say, "I saw no evidence" of a strong link between macroeconomic and prudential policy. Is that still your view, reflecting back on that time?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: And what difference would that have made if we had a better connection?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: You've had to, I think, advise banks on loans-to-deposit ratios, sectoral concentration and even keeping better records. Would that be a reflection on some of the work you've done in your communications with banks?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: And again, it's strange to the outsider that you as the regulator would have to say, "Look, you'd better keep accounts of the possible repayment capacities of these borrowers", and so on but you actually had to do that on occasions, is that correct? Recommend that they had better records on their lending?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: And just before your signature on the last page, you noted that the role of external auditors, saying that "where such deficiencies are not flagged, auditors may be taken as indicating to the board and to [the] management that they have not identified any significant risk exposures, including in relation to property", and you go on to say, I would like a more root and branch approach to...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: Yes.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: I'm grateful for your observations. Do you think now that you'd see the role of external auditors ... I think it was mentioned this morning that some-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: -----some auditors had 200 staff and 20 partners in a bank, you had only three, I think, for Bank of Ireland and AIB combined, so would you see a role for external auditors and your office in the future? And thank you, Chairman, that is my last question.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: How many staff do you have now?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: Thank you very much.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: Thank you, Chairman. Is a regulatory system with no sanctions, is it moral hazard and bound to fail?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: Looking ahead ... and, you know, how do we prevent the next crisis, should we aim for a two-tier system, one regulated by you which carries your protections, and the other sort of, free-range, like, we don't reimburse losing lotto tickets or slow greyhounds, or whatever? Would that be a way to proceed, that we have a very tightly regulated sector which protects people's savings, and gambling...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: Finally, May 2008, when you sought the extra staff, was that a normal shortage of staff or did you have premonitions of doom-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Nexus Phase (27 May 2015)
Sean Barrett: -----a few months afterwards?