Bank bailout cost 'manageable'

There will be "no second act" in the recapitalisation of Ireland's banks, the financial regulator said today, adding that the…

There will be "no second act" in the recapitalisation of Ireland's banks, the financial regulator said today, adding that the costs associated with the bailout are "manageable".

"It is clear that a very rigorous process has been undertaken and that there will be no 'second act' in the process of recapitalising the banking sector," said Matthew Elderfield, who took over as head of financial supervision at the Central Bank in January.

Mr Elderfield was speaking at the Financial Services Services Ireland Conference in Dublin this morning.

The total cost of the bailout, including purchases by the agency, may amount to about €73 billion, the Economic and Social Research Institute said last week.

The Government may pump €22 billion into Anglo Irish Bank, it said.

"While there are significant costs associated with the recapitalisation process, these costs are manageable and will be spread out over time," Mr Elderfield said.

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Mr Elderfield also the conference that "over-dominant" chief executives caused problems in Ireland in the past. He said there had been some "serious" breaches of corporate governance standards.

In a separate statement today, the regulator confirmed it would be taking over the scrutiny of prospectuses from the Irish stock exchange in line with EU requirements.

European law says the role of prospectus scrutiny, which involves the review of prospectus documents for equity, debt and closed-ended funds to ensure that prospectuses are compliant with legislative provisions, must be returned to the regulator by the end of 2011.

Additional reporting: Bloomberg