Senator David Norris' address to Seanad Eireann (the Irish Senate)

In Sept. 2007, fourteen months before Ireland's bank bailout, I resigned from my position as the Risk Manager of UniCredit Bank Ireland. I did that in order not to incriminate myself. I have spent the last 4 years seeking justice. On Feb. 23rd., 2010, I was fortunate to have Senator David Norris raise the matter in Seanad Eireann (the Irish Senate), and request a response from the Minister of Finance, Mr. Brian Lenihan. Senator Norris concluded by stating that:
"...there is ministerial responsibility in this matter. This is a grossly serious matter which has been reported to the Financial Regulator. A man has lost his job as a result. He honourably resigned. The degree of breach was 40 times the accepted margin. This is a disaster. If we are not prepared to face the issue and investigate it when it has been laid before the House, there is absolutely no hope for the financial system or its reputation worldwide...How can the Financial Regulator investigate himself? He was in breach of his responsibility."
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/seanad/2010/02/23/00012.asp
In Nov. 2011, Emma Alberici, Europe correspondent for ABC TV, told my story as part of her documentary 'Going Rogue' which featured Nick Leeson and Sir John Vickers among other interviewees. It is ironic that at a time when the Irish tax-payer is bailing out un-secured bond holders, my story which occurred in Dublin, is deemed of interest to the Australian TV license payer. Please click on 'play video' on the following link:
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2011/s3367080.htm
VRT, Belgian state-TV, aired this interview with me on March 6th., 2013. My Interview begins in minute 27:
Het verdriet van Europa: Zeepbellen blazen (The sadness of Europe: Bursting bubbles)
VRT, Belgian state-TV, released extra footage of my interview on March 8th., 2013. (in English):
Whistleblower.IRL@gmail.com

Thursday 24 February 2011

Thoughts on the day before the Irish election




Having met with key people at Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party, I am keen to see if any of them will follow up on their commitment to reveal the truth behind my story once the elections are over. The lack of appetite for the truth by the ousted Fianna Fail (FF) party is plainly obvious.

Fine Gael are the undisputed front-runners of this election. They are keen to restore Ireland's credibility in the international financial markets. The leading Fine Gael politician whom I have met with is undoubtedly a person well versed in dealing with people of great power and influence. 

Whilst the UniCredit subsidiary in Ireland that I resigned from in 2007 was relatively small by comparison to the Irish retail banks, my story invokes cardinal questions in relation to the bank guarantee of September 2008. It also sheds an alarming light on the independence of the Irish media.

This is a quote from a comment I posted this morning on two Irish political forums:


"From a very personal perspective, I would like to know why every journalist from the "Independent" news group has vanished into thin air as soon as they discovered the name of the bank that I resigned from in 2007.
The issue of my resignation from UniCredit Bank Ireland was raised early last year in the Seanad and late last year in the Dáil and in the Austrian parliament. The Irish Times has written about it, the Sunday Business Post has written about it, Village magazine wrote a cover-story about it, even the German Süddeutsche Zeitung has written about it. SILENCE still from the 'Independent' news group and from RTÉ - our national and similarly 'independent' broadcaster. The answer to this mystery is simple and is hardly surprising; it is to be found in the board-rooms of INM and UniCredit Ireland. UniCredit Ireland's chairman at the time of my resignation was "Professor Brian Hillery, one-time FF TD for Dun Laoghaire, current chairman of Independent Newspapers..." - quote from Village magazine.
Here is the link to the article in Village magazine:
http://www.villagemagazine.ie/index.php/2010/12/still-waiting-for-the-truth-from-the-regulator/
I resigned in order not to incriminate myself. We were breaking liquidity regulation by 1,900% (YES, one thousand and nine hundred percent). The Financial Regulator knew about it and did nothing. The regulation stipulated a possible 5 year prison sentence for violations of the law. However, even though a sweeping bank guarantee was required in Sept 2008 due to the fact that ALL the Irish banks ran completely dry of liquidity, not a single Risk Officer has been charged at any of the banks. We, the Irish taxpayers are footing the bill. What did the Financial Regulator do about it? He re-issued the regulation in 2009, making sure to cite Banking Acts as far back as 1942, but never mentioning the fact that this was law in Ireland in 2007. Problem solved, no-one is guilty. 
For the links to the relevant debates and articles, please visit my blog at:
http://whistleblowerirl.blogspot.com/
PS
If the name UniCredit sounds familiar to you, it might be because 7.5% of it is owned by Libyan state authorities:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/21/libya-protest-unicredit-idUKLDE71K2B820110221
I wonder how the clients, shareholders and employees of UniCredit and its subsidiaries - Pioneer, HVB, and Bank Austria are feeling these days about contributing to the wealth of a sovereign that has been mercilessly killing its own citizens."

 I can be contacted at whistleblower.irl@gmail.com.