Appleby may have final say after Fitzpatrick 'corporate McCarthyism' jibe

Emmet Oliver

Clashes over level of regulation: Former Anglo chairman Sean FitzPatrick (above) and Director of Corporate Enforcement Paul Appleby

Director of Corporate Enforcement Paul Appleby

The former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank, Sean FitzPatrick, raised public concerns as recently as last year about the heavy burden of regulation on Irish business people and the "corporate McCarthyism" which he said was treating wealth creators like known criminals.

His comments spurred the director of corporate enforcement Paul Appleby to write to FitzPatrick to query what he was complaining about. Now the Sunday Tribune understands Appleby is studying the issue of disclosure of directors' loans at the bank, once Ireland's third largest.

FitzPatrick told a business lunch last year that Ireland was suffering from over-zealous regulation. He said the levels of regulation had gone too far. "It is time to shout stop," FitzPatrick said. "In my humble opinion, our wealth-creators should be rewarded and admired, not subjected to the levels of scrutiny which known criminals would rightly find offensive. We should be proud of our success, not suspicious of it."

FitzPatrick, who was reported by a UK Sunday newspaper earlier this year to have a personal wealth of €53m, had up until last week one of the longest list of board directorships in Irish business. Seats at the board tables of Aer Lingus, Smurfit Kappa and Greencore are regarded as reasonably prestigious positions, hence the interest in FitzPatrick's comments about regulation last year.

Since disclosures concerning subprime lenders and asset-backed securities have emerged from the US, calls by business for less regulation have abated. However, even last year, the Chambers of Ireland were complaining of the burden.

"Directors are now constantly looking over their shoulders, erring on the side of caution," the chief executive of the Chambers of Ireland was quoted as saying last year.

FitzPatrick himself said businesspeople were no longer presumed to be innocent. "Have we reached a situation where the weight of compliance with the various financial reporting standards and other corporate regulations is now so heavy that entrepreneurs are no longer willing to bear it?" he asked.

December 21, 2008

Comments

#1 Jim commented, on December 21, 2008 at 11:22 p.m.:

No great surprise that the Chambers of Ireland were complaining of the burden of regulation, minimal as it was, since our economy seems to have depended over the Tiger years on the lack of regulation and supervision.

It's no wonder that the New York Times referred to Ireland as the "Wild West of European finance".

One can only hope that the Germans (and others) won't finally get fed up with our carry-on and call a halt to our activities in the "offshore" banking and transfer-pricing "manufacturing" industry.

For example, check out the TV programs broadcast on major German TV channels during the last ten years covering the use of the Dublin International Financial Services Center by German companies to move their business activities outside the German tax and regulatory area. They weren't very impressed with our gratitude for all the money they have given us in grant-aid since we joined the EU.

#2 Dave commented, on December 22, 2008 at 12:49 p.m.:

I was at that Lunch. The arrogance of the man was there for all to see. Reminded me of Haughey in his hey-day as he made that speech in front of the British Ambassador.
Should have known the similarities with owld Charlie didn't stop there!

#3 John commented, on December 28, 2008 at 11:57 a.m.:

Look, no matter how many reams and acres of text are written trying to untangle and understand the unholy collapse of the capital world, simply it was based on greed, greed and more greed. Strangely, greed is based on fear.
Look at the number of fools that were taken in by Madoff, and the sad thing is that they payed well to be made fools of. This to me is a purging of the rotten state of the capital markets (if I understand things correctly)