Interview by Dominique Laboureix - Head of Europe’s bank-failure agency ‘reasonably comfortable’ with Irish plans

The head of the euro-area agency that deals with bank failures has said he is “reasonably comfortable” with the recovery plans Irish banks have drawn up in the event of another crisis, in advance of the 15th anniversary of the controversial banking guarantee.

Speaking in an interview with The Irish Times on Tuesday in Dublin, Dominique Laboureix, chair of the Single Resolution Board (SRB), which was set up in 2015 to manage failing lenders, said the board was moving into a new phase where the authority planned to focus more on testing banks’ recovery and resolution plans, including on-site inspections.

Mr Laboureix, who took charge of the SRB in January, also said it was “not a question of luck” that euro-zone banks avoided being caught up in the international banking crisis earlier this year, which saw Silicon Valley Bank and two other regional US banks collapse and Credit Suisse’s shotgun takeover by Swiss peer UBS.

“We are comfortable with the Irish banks, in terms of progress made. That doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the journey,” said Mr Laboureix.