Richie Boucher one of 13 summoned to Banking Inquiry

Former executives of BofI, AIB, Ulster Bank summoned to appear

Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher is one of 13 witnesses who have been summoned to appear before the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry from next month.

It is understood that notification was sent to Mr Boucher today and he has been asked to appear before the committee on May 6th.

Former Bank of Ireland chief executive Brian Goggin (April 30th), ex AIB boss Eugene Sheehy (April 29th) and Cormac McCarthy, former CEO of Ulster Bank and current chief financial officer at bookmaker Paddy Power have also been summoned to appear in the so-called Nexus phase of the inquiry.

Others to be called include the chairman and chief executive of the National Asset Management Agency, Frank Daly and Brendan McDonagh, and Michael Torpey, who heads corporate and treasury at Bank of Ireland.

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Also called are Dermot Gleeson, former chairman of AIB, Michael Buckley, one-time CEO of AIB, and his fellow former executive at the bank Donal Forde.

Richard Burrows and Laurence Crowley, bother former governors at Bank of Ireland, and former Ulster Bank executive Robert Gallagher, now in charge of credit investments in Ireland for global equity giant KKR, have also been called before the committee.

No former executives from either Anglo Irish Bank or Irish Nationwide Building Society, which between them received €35 billion in bailout funds from the State, have been called as part of this round of notifications.

Mr Boucher is one of the few senior executive from before the crash in 2008 who continues to work at an Irish bank bailed out by the State. He was a senior executive at Bank of Ireland before succeeding Brian Goggin as CEO in early 2009.

The nexus phase will involve the committee engaging with institutions and individuals who had roles relating to the financial crisis in 2008. The inquiry has the power to compel witnesses in the nexus phase.

It will focus on three broad elements - banking systems and practices; regulatory and supervisory systems and practices; and crisis management systems and policy responses - and how these three elements interacted with each other.

Chairman Ciarán Lynch TD said: “Today, the committee agreed and signed off on the first tranche of witnesses for the nexus phase of hearings which are scheduled to start in April. This tranche will comprise NAMA and the first of the banking witnesses, including Bank of Ireland, AIB (and EBS) and Ulster Bank.

“The notification includes the name, role, line of inquiry and proposed date for the hearing.”

Mr Lynch said the hearings would begin with NAMA on April 22nd and then progress to the pillar banks. The nexus phase hearings will run from April until the middle of September with a total of 64 public hearings planned. It is envisaged that at least 50 witnesses will be called.

“This phase of our hearings will include a move to compelling witnesses and statements and the use of evidence,” Mr Lynch said. “Under the witness management protocol, there will be a structured witness engagement with a seven week lead-in between the notification and the public hearing. The protocol includes timescales, evidence books and technical briefings.”

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock is Business Editor of The Irish Times