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A barrister acting for the former chairman of the collapsed Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS) has accused the Central Bank of failing to establish an "articulate case" against his client.
He also warned that the regulator risked imperilling the "public life" of corporations by subjecting a non-executive director to such a lengthy investigation.
On the third day of public hearings of the Inquiry set up to examine the actions of senior management in the lead-up to the Society's nationalisation in 2010, Michael Collins, senior counsel for Michael Walsh, predicted his client would be "utterly exonerated".
He also attacked the grounds of the inquiry, repeatedly asserting there was "no evidence" Mr Walsh had breached any law.
Mr Walsh had fulfilled his responsibilities in relation to the board, Mr Collins said, stressing that at the time Mr Walsh received "high praise" from the regulator and had even warned the watchdog back in 2007 of the impending financial crisis.
Mr Collins emphasised the former director was the one "person at the time who was pointing out that everything was not fine" and took action to curtail lending and bolster liquidity. Yet, he added, "he is the only chairman of a financial institution that is the subject of an inquiry so you can see why he is aggrieved".
Mr Collins argued the regulator's treatment of his client had been unfair and biased. He claimed there was not a "screed of evidence" that showed Mr Walsh "participated" in the seven special prescribed contraventions that have been levelled at him, along with four previous directors, including its former boss Michael Fingleton.
He also took issue with the length of the investigation, which began in 2012 before the inquiry was established in 2015, and warned the process may last another two years.
Mr Collins asserted Mr Walsh, as a non-executive director, was not involved in the day-to-day management. He said the Central Bank decision to continue its case against him was solely based on his role as INBS's chairman. In 2015 the regulator had dropped its investigation into the organisation's other non-executive directors, he said.
He warned the three-member panel, led by solicitor Marian Shanley, that the public inquiry and potential penalties faced by Mr Walsh - he could be fined up to €500,00 as well as being excluded from holding a similar position - may deter others from accepting board positions.
Mr Collins argued the inquiry suffered from "inherent conflicts" and described the Central Bank's approach to the investigation as "lop-sided".
One example of this, he claimed, was the abandoned allegation the board "failed to revoke" the "extraordinary powers" of Mr Fingleton. He said this was then "quietly dropped" after John Purcell, the society's former finance director, pointed out this "level of delegation" had been agreed "in advance" with the Central Bank.
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