Push Me! Pull Me! Cross-Purpose Regulation of the Banking Sector in Ireland
| Author | Alan B. Rabkin |
| Position | B.A. University of California at Los Angeles, J.D. Loyola Law School, LL.M University of San Diego, LL.M. candidate, Trinity College, Dublin |
| Pages | 177-188 |
PUSH
ME!
-
PULL
ME!
CROSS-PURPOSE
REGULATION
OF
THE
BANKING
SECTOR
IN
IRELAND
ALAN
B.
RABKIN*
Can
a
'Prudential
Regulator'
and
a
'Competition
Advocate'
regulate
the
same Banking
Sector?
Should
banks
in
Ireland
be
governed
by
'One
Voice'?
Although
banking
is
certainly
not
a
regulated
sector
free
from
controversy
and
occasional
abuse
in
Ireland,
1
pity
your
local
banker
in
this
era
of
liberalisation,
harmonisation
and
moderisation,
simultaneously
occurring in
the banking
and
competition
laws.
They have
one
foot
in
at
least two
regulated worlds
-
both with
parallel
authorities
over
them.
The
first
foot
is
in
the
solid, quiet world
of
slowly
modernising
bank
sector
regulation that
relates
to credit
risk,
central bank
co-ordination
and
general
emphasis
on
maintaining
bank solvency
and
the
soundness
of
banks
in
Ireland.
This
is
a
generally dignified world
of
planning
aimed
at
shoring
up
bank
profits
and
making
investment
in
banking
profitable. This
world
is
governed
by
the
Irish
Financial
Services Regulatory
Authority,
2
which assumes
the
role
as
a
so-called prudential
regulator.
A typical
ex
ante
model
3
of
regulation
of
few
surprises
and
lots
of
consultation intra-
industry. IFSRA
is
perceived
as
a
friendly
regulator
of
banks, with
frequent
associations between IFSRA and
banking
groups
and
federations.
Now
turn
the
page
to
see
where
the
second
foot
has landed.
It
rests
in
a
different
world;
one
of
bruising
bank
competition,
where banks
compete
.
B.A.
University
of
California
at
Los
Angeles, J.D. Loyola
Law School, LL.M
University
of
San
Diego,
LL.M.
candidate,
Trinity College, Dublin. Acknowledgement
and
appreciation
go
to
Mr.
Tom Carney,
Instructor
in
Telecommunications
and
Competition
at
Trinity
Law
School
and noted Dublin
solicitor, for
his
writings
which
clearly
revealed to the
author
the
ex
ante/ex
fost
dichotomy
in
the separate
telecommunications
sector.
The
Allied
Irish
Bank
overcharge matter dealing
with
foreign exchange
matters
in
2004 is
recent
and
ample
evidence
of
this
proposition.
2
Hereinafter
IFSRA.
3
'Ex
ante'
is
Latin
for
'beforehand'.
In
this context,
laws, rules
and
requirements
used
to
guide
or
channel future
behaviour.
In
an
economics context
it
means, "based on
expected
results".
©
2005
Alan
B.
Rabkin
and
Dublin
University
Law
Society
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