Last month the New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer addressed Irish businesses on a visit to Dublin. His message was clear: in line with the rest of the world, Ireland needed to heed warnings on business integrity. He reserved special criticism for the executives and bankers globally, who were damaging the market by continuing to see themselves as above the law. But there was some light at the end of the tunnel. The scourge of Wall Street wrong-doers said there were now enough regulations and that concepts such as honesty and transparency could be reintroduced using simple methods.
With the Irish regulatory burden at an all-time high, Spitzer’s words will resonate with lawyers who are now vociferously complaining that Ireland has embraced super-regulation all too enthusiastically.
