Patrick Honohan’s latest speech is here.
In addition to explaining the extent of the recapitalisation of the Irish banking system, he also highlights the desirability of transferring risk to foreign investors, either through the sale of banks or the sale of packages of loans (including residential mortgages).
Eoin Dorgan’s letter in the FT this morning provides a useful reminder of the distribution of assets in the Irish banking system. Monday’s FT article used the Central Bank data on ‘domestic credit market institutions’ – the total assets of this group stood at €776 billion at end June. Eoin Dorgan points out that the total assets of the ‘six domestically owned banks’ (I presume he means the six institutions covered by the guarantee) was €523 billion at end June. The non-covered institutions (Ulster Bank, Danske, Bank of Scotland Ireland etc) account for one third of total assets and any comprehensive analysis of the expansion, collapse and restructuring of the Irish banking system needs to incorporate this category.
The full list of domestic credit market institutions is available here.
Governor Honohan reviews the current situation in relation to the Irish banking system and the Irish sovereign in a speech to the Small Firms Association: you can read it here.
Brian Lucey argues for a different approach to solving the banking crisis in this IT article.
You can read the latest speech from Governor Honohan here.