Vol. 492 No. 1
113 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for Finance whether his Department is informed of the on-going work of the special task force established by the Swiss Government to investigate the provision of banking facilities in relation to Nazi assets; whether the work of that task force will influence his Department's attitude to those financial institutions here whose actions are being investigated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13682/98]
I presume the Deputy is asking whether my Department's attitude to the banks in question will be influenced by the work of the Swiss task force investigating the provision of banking facilities in relation to Nazi assets. As the Deputy will be aware, neither I nor my Department has any direct statutory responsibility in relation to the authorisation and supervision of individual banks, Swiss or otherwise. Regulatory responsibility in Ireland rests with the Central Bank of Ireland on the basis of legislation deriving from, and in accord with, EU law. I am not aware of any proposals in the banking area at EU level to address the issue raised by the Deputy.
