The Office of Corporate Enforcement does not have the power to investigate Irish Nationwide

[PaddyJoe]

Extraordinary that this is only coming out now

The state body heading the official investigation into the banking collapse is prohibited from accessing major evidence outlining the failings of the Irish Nationwide Building Society

INBS is registered as a society and not a company.

The SBP has learned that the ODCE has no remit to access Irish Nationwide internal documents

By law, the ODCE's remit stretches only to companies. The anomaly means that the ODCE has never received two official reports compiled by a a firm of accountants and a firm of solicitors into corporate governance failures at the society.

That's really very convenient, isn't it? Has the ODCE ever asked for enhanced powers to investigate INBS? Has anybody in government ever asked how INBS has avoided an ODCE investigation?
Source Ian Kehoe of the SBP. Behind a paywall so I can't link the story.

[Dr. FIVE]

Can't help wondering if it even matters

[jpc]

The most totally inept shower of ass scratchers ever!
You wonder can things become any more comically incompetent !
Then this!

[PaddyJoe]

Those reports are gathering dust in a Garda's locker somewhere:

The Fingleton files - Richard Curran -> http://www.sbpost.ie/news/the-fingleton ... 55085.html

Quote:
The original report found that Fingleton, who ran the society for over 30 years, was granted special powers by its board in 1981, which were reinforced twice in the 1990s.

The powers allowed Fingleton to personally set, vary or alter interest rates charged on loans and decide the fees to be charged on them. It also entitled him personally to make arrangements on loans with individual clients of the society.

The report found evidence of a litany of corporate governance failings at the society over many years, including:
• circumvention of the credit committee by Fingleton through the use of these special powers;
• evidence of loans granted before approval and the amounts lent out being different to the amount approved;
• evidence of the funds borrowed, being issued to associated companies rather than the borrowing entity;
• no formal process for extending loan terms;
• evidence of invoices for substantial sums being paid twice;
• millions paid for consultancy services to UK offshore companies linked to borrowers; and
• introduction fees being paid to developers for introducing other developers to joint venture deals

The probe also examined how, on a number of occasions, the price of development land being purchased by a society company from a developer increased substantially on the day of purchase without any obvious explanation.

Just before Fingleton retired, he is understood to have written a letter, supporting a borrower, saying that all of that borrower’s loans were on a joint-venture profit share basis and non-recourse.

This was challenged by the new management team that came in under current chief executive Gerry McGinn.

We have a thread on these reports already. Looking back at it I see that this story about the OCE having no remit concerning INBS is not new. It was covered by the IT in March 2011.
Maybe the bigger story is why nobody has done anything about it since.
http://www.politicalworld.org/showthread.php?t=10492