Senator David Norris' address to Seanad Eireann (the Irish Senate)

In Sept. 2007, fourteen months before Ireland's bank bailout, I resigned from my position as the Risk Manager of UniCredit Bank Ireland. I did that in order not to incriminate myself. I have spent the last 4 years seeking justice. On Feb. 23rd., 2010, I was fortunate to have Senator David Norris raise the matter in Seanad Eireann (the Irish Senate), and request a response from the Minister of Finance, Mr. Brian Lenihan. Senator Norris concluded by stating that:
"...there is ministerial responsibility in this matter. This is a grossly serious matter which has been reported to the Financial Regulator. A man has lost his job as a result. He honourably resigned. The degree of breach was 40 times the accepted margin. This is a disaster. If we are not prepared to face the issue and investigate it when it has been laid before the House, there is absolutely no hope for the financial system or its reputation worldwide...How can the Financial Regulator investigate himself? He was in breach of his responsibility."
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/seanad/2010/02/23/00012.asp
In Nov. 2011, Emma Alberici, Europe correspondent for ABC TV, told my story as part of her documentary 'Going Rogue' which featured Nick Leeson and Sir John Vickers among other interviewees. It is ironic that at a time when the Irish tax-payer is bailing out un-secured bond holders, my story which occurred in Dublin, is deemed of interest to the Australian TV license payer. Please click on 'play video' on the following link:
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2011/s3367080.htm
VRT, Belgian state-TV, aired this interview with me on March 6th., 2013. My Interview begins in minute 27:
Het verdriet van Europa: Zeepbellen blazen (The sadness of Europe: Bursting bubbles)
VRT, Belgian state-TV, released extra footage of my interview on March 8th., 2013. (in English):
Whistleblower.IRL@gmail.com

Friday 8 April 2011

Mr. Elderfield, I am impressed by your recent statements. Will actions follow words?

I was greatly encouraged when I read these two recent headlines, I wonder is this the dawn of a new era of financial law-enforcement in Ireland? 
Only time and actions will tell.


Irish regulator says Anglo's senior bonds at risk 

By Carmel Crimmins and Huw Jones
LONDON | Wed Apr 6, 2011 7:19am EDT

(Reuters) - Ireland may try to impose losses on senior bondholders in two defunct lenders if they need more capital, the banking regulator said on Wednesday, potentially putting the country on a collision course with the ECB.

The Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, which is helping keep Irish lenders afloat, is opposed to Ireland hitting senior bondholders with any losses in case it sparks contagion within the euro zone, exacerbating the bloc's debt crisis.

Matthew Elderfield, head of financial regulation at Ireland's central bank, said the government accepted the ECB view that it should not impose losses on senior bondholders in the country's four remaining lenders, but Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide, which are being wound down, were being viewed differently.
....While concerns about the sector's level of capital should abate over the next 12 months, Elderfield said the process of shrinking their assets and improving their funding base would take much longer. "That is a project that will take years."

Elderfield said he will be far more intrusive in the banking sector in future. In particular, there will be regular checks on how much liquidity or cash-like assets banks have to ride out short-term turbulence in markets...


EU Banking Waits on a Knife-Edge - Wall Street Journal
By GEOFFREY T. SMITH, 7 APRIL 2011
 Whisper it softly, but… is that?… can it be?… a light at the end of the tunnel of Europe's banking crisis? 
The answer may yet be: "No, it's an oncoming train of disorderly sovereign default," but the news flow has, at the very least, stopped getting worse, and in some quarters is improving beyond any reasonable doubt.
...
Everything about the methodology suggests this was the action of a new broom sweeping clean, unencumbered by the need to protect political and boardroom reputations. (Quite the reverse, in fact:Ireland's regulator, Matthew Elderfield, has announced plans to re-examine the fitness and probity of every single bank director in the country.) 
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704101604576246911146923784.html



My e-mail address is:  whistleblower.irl@gmail.com
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