AN IRISH BANKING MANIFESTO : THE VIEWS OF A DISENCHANTED FORMER BANKER - MCCORMICK, TIM *****

Ever since the financial crisis broke in Ireland there has been a clamour for a full explanation for why it happened. The various accounts to date have focused on the role of the Financial Regulator, the Government and the economic cycle, but little attention has been given for the lending behaviour by the banks. Many fear that limitations to the Oireachtas enquiry will limit its usefulness and provide little new information. If a sporting team performed disastrously the supporters would be unhappy with blaming the referee (the Regulator), the touch judges (the auditors and the rating agencies) and the grounds staff (the Government). They would want to know why the players performed so poorly. Various journalists and academics have provided valuable insights to the problem, but what is missing is a perspective from the inside. In other countries whistle blowers have revealed much of what went on, but no similar account has emerged in Ireland. Tim McCormick spent eighteen years in Irish banking in the 1970s and 1980s before spending a similar length of time training Irish managers in finance at the Irish Management Institute.
His knowledge of the practice of banking uniquely enables him to put the subsequent changes in the industry into perspective. Having explained the reasons for the banks' poor performance, he then sets out the reforms necessary to regain confidence in Ireland's banks.