Ex-NIB executive fights disqualification move

A former head of finance with National Irish Bank is opposing an application by the Director of Corporate Enforcement for a court order disqualifying him from involvement in the management of any company on grounds of unfitness.

The director is seeking the order, under section 160 of the Companies Act, against Patrick Byrne, who was head of finance with NIB from 1994 to 1998, arising from findings against Mr Byrne by inspectors who investigated tax evasion at the bank in the 1990s.

Mr Byrne, of St Helen's Road, Booterstown, Co Dublin, contends such an order is "entirely unreasonable" in his case, and he has disputed the findings of the inspectors, including that he shared responsibility for failures within the bank to uphold a culture of compliance; to comply with Dirt legislation; and to address the bank's retrospective liability to the Revenue.

He has disputed that he was responsible for verifying the accuracy of information relating to Dirt accounts, which was compiled by NIB branch managers, and says that responsibility lay with the bank's London offices. The director's application was unsupported by the facts, Mr Byrne said.

Mr Byrne had also said he is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the court should consider that the ICAI had not found any impropriety on his part and had not considered he had breached its code of conduct.

The hearing of the section 160 application opened yesterday before Mr Justice Roderick Murphy and is expected to last several days.

The application is one of nine brought by the director against various NIB executives and managers on the basis of the July 2004 report of inspectors Tom Grace and John Blayney, which made serious findings of improper practices in NIB and National Irish Bank Financial Services Ltd.

The inspectors concluded such practices facilitated tax evasion and the levying of unwarranted fees and interest charges, and that senior management within NIB were aware of this, but failed to take appropriate or adequate action to stop such practices.