12/1/2014: Icelandic Banks Crisis: Failure to Enforce?

A detailed account of the Icelandic crisis and the failure of regulatory enforcement (not necessarily of regulatory easing) in propelling risky behaviour by the banks: http://www.voxeu.org/article/gambling-resurrection-iceland

4/7/2013: Thou Shall Not Dream of Punishment... for banks...

Interesting discussion on July 2 in the Seanad Eireann Debate on the Central Bank Supervision and Enforcement Bill 2011 that is going through the final debates: http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/seanad2013070200034?opendocument#LL00100

Note, the key point in the overall draft of the legislation is that it no longer provides significant powers of enforcement to the Central Bank over the matters relating to the banks practices that can potentially restrict competition in the sector in Ireland. The Government has rolled back on granting such powers to the Central Bank.

Minister Noonan was originally very supportive of adding powers on protection of whistleblowing, evaluation of the banking sector by the Competition Authority and increasing the fines for banks the Central Bank can issue, but Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Brian Hayes) pulled back in a rather revealing debate.

Good to know that the 'reformed' banking sector shall remain as unenforceable as the one that got us into the proverbial sh*t.