In their own words...

The following is a selection of key quotes reported in the High Court Inspectors report.

On bogus non-resident accounts

By a branch manager:

"As a manager I was delighted to see people coming in with over a hundred thousand pounds. I wouldn't be running around the streets to check if they were resident or otherwise..."

"It would be a brave man in the regime that was in the bank at that time that would have stood up and be counted, and say the deposits are actually going down by 20 per cent overnight, the reason being X, Y and Z. I don't think anyone was brave enough to stand up and do that."

Another branch manager, when asked what would happen when he discovered a non-resident account was bogus:

"In a lot of cases nothing. We would have tried to tidy them up and tell them that it is not non-resident, we want them to become resident and attract DIRT. If they disagreed, we would get the financial services to talk to them."

Another branch manager, when questioned about why bogus accounts were operated and the attitude of head office:

"On the one hand they're telling me to get it sorted out, on the other hand they're telling me to get the resources up ... Under the pressure to increase the business I was happy to do it."

By a customer, when asked how he came to set up a bogus non-resident account:

"They would have set that up for me at the start for the simple reason that I would say to the bank I could get better interest in different places and they would say, we'll sign a form - I think it was an F17, where you declare you are a non-resident - we will get you that. You will not be paying DIRT, you are not supposed to be in the country. So that they set it up for me, it wasn't a question of me going in and asking for it. I would say that I could get 1 per cent interest rate better in some other bank and they would say 'no, hold on, sign this form'."

When asked by the inspector who would have said you would have a non-resident account, the customer named a bank manager, Mr Kevin Curran, regional manager at NIB:

"There were some mavericks [in the branches\] there is no question or doubt about that".

"[Revenue evasion\] was a national sport in the eighties and early nineties."

On the CMI bonds

Mr Charlie McCarthy, financial services manager, when asked if the selling points of the bonds were confidential.

"Probably".

Discussion between branch manager an inspector on CMI bonds:

Inspector:" So the big benefit, the real big benefit of CMI?"

Branch Manager: "No name"

Inspector: "The Revenue never get to hear about it?"

Branch Manager: "Yes, of course."

Ms Beverley Cooper-Flynn:

"When asked by the inspector if she was aware of the source of the funds invested in CMI bonds she replied; "Not generally but, at times, it did become apparent. But not generally. Source of funds really wasn't an issue for me. I was an investment advisor".

Mr Nigel D'Arcy, head of NIB's financial advice and services division:

"...it was quite obvious that there were a lot of non-resident accounts that were not genuine non-resident accounts and shouldn't have been classified as such in the first place and obviously there is a linkage between that and CMI product."

Notes made by a financial adviser about a potential CMI customer:

"I have this client who has 'road runner' funds that he needs to shift. He works in Northern Ireland but lives in the south. He is very cautious and the new bond should suit."

On 30th July 1990, Mr Patrick Cooney, investment manager in the NIB financial advice and services division wrote to his staff. In a letter starting "Hi Guys", he went through the kind of funds suitable for the different types of customers. The second last paragraph read:

"Finally, we have the people who have money invested offshore already or whose money is 'hot'. In this scenario, we should in almost all cases direct the monies into our New Bond, 'The Emerald International Portfolio', which is a combination of the above funds."

On increasing the rate of interest charged to customers

Branch manager :

"It was probably a sneaky way of making a charge that was seen to be properly due. I suppose it was easier than fighting with someone because of a fee. It was probably cowardly."

Another branch manger, when asked if his branch had invented this overcharging scheme, replied:

"Not at all. That is one of the points I made to our internal auditors. I told them that whatever was in the report ... I had not invented the wheel."

On the improper charging of fees

Branch staff:

"Well there was no rule of thumb, it was kind of a guess figure, you know."

"Well, I would have sort of thought what sort of nuisance has he been over the previous period and come up with a figure."

"On the fee, it was target-driven. There is no doubt in my mind on that."