Even if some of the entrants of the early 2000s (Danske, Halifax-Bank of Scotland, Rabo) and earlier (Royal Bank of Scotland, Kredietbank) – all coming from within the European Union – stoked up the over-heated credit competition in the boom, they certainly also absorbed a sizable chunk of the losses in the bust.
And foreign shareholders owned well over half of AIB and Bank of Ireland when the crisis broke. (At present, foreign shareholders hold more than 70 per cent of the equity in Bank of Ireland). But what about in normal times? To what degree is it safe to rely on foreign controlled entities for delivering the full range of banking services?