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Promotions such
as golf balls or umbrellas bearing the logos of banks were
commonplace in Ireland during their rapid growth a decade ago.
That growth ended in the most expensive bank bailout in the euro
zone when a property bubble spectacularly burst.
Patrick Neary, who was head of financial regulation from 2006 to
2009, was asked on Thursday what the regulators were thinking
when they handed out the golf balls.
"Your job was the micro-prudential supervision of the banks.
What was going on?" inquiry member Susan O'Keefe asked Neary, in
the most anticipated hearing since lawmakers began to question
bank executives, regulators and politicians.
"It must have been a package of things that were delivered, I
really don't know much about it other than when it was unearthed
and I became aware of them, it was discontinued," Neary said. "I
regret that. It was a mistake."
Regulation in Ireland before its banks imploded seven years ago
was described as "excessively deferential", "timid" and
"accommodating" in an official 2010 report by Central Bank
Governor Patrick Honohan, who has since overhauled the system.
Neary said on Thursday that cracking down on Ireland's banks
before the crash would have conflicted with government policy to
promote the country as a financial services center.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin)
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