The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank is calling for new measures to fight against white collar crime.
In a speech in Dublin today Matthew Elderfield said the financial crisis should prompt action in the same way gangland activity saw the setting up of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in the 1990s.
He says we need to ask ourselves how we can raise our game to ensure an enforcement system that delivers deterrence where it really counts at the door of the individual who breaks the rules.
"The fact that the Central Bank has sanctioned firms and has published details of these sanctions has made some in the industry uncomfortable and leads to pleas to ease up on the use of the enforcement tool" he said.
"We do not apologise for taking enforcement actions or publicising them. There is no deterrence value unless firms, investors, consumers and the public are aware that we will respond with enforcement action where behaviour and practices fall short".
"I am firm in my belief that this is a necessary and best practice element in the regulatory toolkit" he added.
Focus on white collar crimes
Mr. Elderfield believes it would be useful to find an appropriate mechanism to provide "a measured analysis of and reflection on our overall structures in Ireland for taking cases against individuals for breaches of financial regulation or indeed for cases of white collar financial crime".
He says our current enforcement system needs to be examined to see whether it is "able to really deliver results when it comes to individuals who are responsible for financial failures that impose costs on society, for breaches of financial regulatory standards and for financial white collar crime more generally".
He adds that a coordinated strategic approach is needed for this effective enforcement.
"At a high level, it would first make sense to examine the respective roles and missions of the principal enforcement bodies involved with financial white collar crime and, as part of this, to assess the capabilities and resources for delivering their objectives".
Newstalk's Business Editor Ian Guider has outlined the main concerns.
