Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 April 2013
171. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Questions Nos 64 of 12 July 2012 and 251 of 16 March 2013, the power the Central Bank of Ireland has to compel banks to write down the value of problem loans to the value of underlying security if the bank changes its primary regulator, for example, if Ulster Bank changes its regulator to the Bank of England and the British Financial Services Authority. [20021/13]
View answerThe Central Bank (CBI) has informed me that where a bank’s operations in this country are conducted under a licence granted by a regulator in another country (e.g. the UK in this example), the CBI does not have the prudential powers to set problem loan provisioning rules for that bank. The Central Bank’s Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears applies to mortgage lending activities with borrowers in respect of their principal private residence in the State. Compliance with the Code is mandatory on all mortgage lenders regulated by the Central Bank.
