Results 11,461-11,480 of 14,090 for speaker:Marc MacSharry
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: I welcome Mr. Buti and thank him for taking the time to be with us. Can I ask Mr. Buti if there was a policy, written or otherwise, within the European Commission, that no bank should fail?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: To rephrase that, I know there is not a written policy, because if there was I would have it, but was there an established doctrine among you and your colleagues as Directors General within the Commission, and the Commissioners, that it would be best that no bank should be permitted to fail?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: This was a failure. Was there a contingency considered by the Commission if, for example, Ireland or any member state allowed a bank to fail?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: Just so we are absolutely clear, no contingency was considered if a member state allowed a bank to fail. Mr. Buti said in his statement that "the European Commission acts as the guardian of the EU treaty". I suggest that if a bank were allowed to fail, that might have implications for the European treaty. Was no contingency considered by the Commission?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: Did the Commission have a contingency in the event of a sovereign default from a member state?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: Okay. We are clear now that there was an incomplete set of tools. In Mr. Buti's own words, that was a mistake and a failure, with the benefit of hindsight. Is that fair?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: Could the limited tools that the Commission had at its disposal have been better used in the context of the crisis here?
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: I do not want to waste Mr. Buti's time or that of the committee of inquiry. That is not the question.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: I appreciate that.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: Can I move on from that? It is unfortunate that we are not dealing with the period right up to 2010. I think it would be in the public interest, and in the interest of the inquiry, if preconditions were not set on people who are coming to give evidence. I do not think it is in the people's interest.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: Yes.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: That is fine
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: I will. I am merely pointing out that it is difficult to get the whole truth, as the people might desire, if we are accepting preconditions from witnesses in advance. It is worth putting that on the record.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: Moving on, can I ask-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: Yes.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: As I live in the here and now, I cannot help being influenced by current events when I am framing questions and looking back on the pre-crisis period. With that in mind, I could not help noticing in recent days that tax anticipation notes were pointed out during the ongoing negotiations on the Greek situation as a potential remedy to the difficulties being experienced in that country. I...
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: If I could finish-----
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: I will make it relevant.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: My question relates to the pre-2008 period.
- Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis: Context Phase (18 Feb 2015)
Marc MacSharry: My question relates to the pre-2008 period.