Inquiry into breaches at Irish Nationwide begins

An inquiry ordered by the Central Bank of Ireland into alleged regulatory breaches at Irish Nationwide Building Society will begin its public hearings on Wednesday some 16 months after the regulator announced that it would pursue sanctions against its former senior management.

All the main players involved in running INBS before its collapse are expected to attend the hearing, including its former chief executive of 38 years Michael Fingleton.

The first day of the hearing is expected to centre around administrative issues, involving legal arguments and procedure. The panel are not expected to hear any evidence from witnesses.

The Central Bank has leased a building at Blackhall Place in central Dublin to host the hearing, which will be undertaken by a three-member panel.

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Four days of public hearings

The panel comprises Marian Shanley, who is currently solicitor and registrar to the Fennelly Commission; Ciara McGoldrick, a former deputy registrar and head of fitness to practise and legal affairs at the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland; and Geoffrey McEnery, a former chief executive of Lloyds TSB Bank in Asia.

This will be the first of four days of public hearings that have been flagged by the panel – it will also sit on December 1st, 13th and 14th. It has already met in private on three occasions.

INBS was nationalised in 2010 at a cost of €5.4 billion to taxpayers. It was later merged into Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, which itself was liquidated by the State in 2013.

Following the inquiry, the Central Bank could impose fines of up to €500,000 against any of the individuals involved in the management of INBS.

The building society has already settled with the Central Bank, which imposed a fine of €5 million in July of last year. This was never collected as INBS was in liquidation.