Ireland's turning to BlackRock for loan valuations as part of bank restructuring failed to restore confidence

This blog has frequently observed that the only way to restore confidence in the Irish banking system is to disclose the current asset and liability-level data for the surviving banks.  It is only with this data that market participants, like credit and equity market analysts, can determine if the banks are solvent or if they are not solvent and if not solvent, how long it might take for them to earn their way back to solvency.

An article in the Independent shows that the exercise pursued by the Central Bank, for which it paid BlackRock a sizable fee for valuing the loans in the Irish banking sector, has failed to restore confidence in the Irish banks.

FOREIGN banks are now almost twice as active in the Irish deposits market as they are on the lending scene, the latest data from the Central Bank reveal. 

The news comes as the same monthly bulletin shows that Ireland's bailed-out banks are still turning to monetary authorities for a near-record €130bn of funding to keep their businesses ticking over. 

The latest 'Money and Banking' statistics reveal that the few foreign banks left here shrank their Irish loan books by 12pc in April alone and now account for just 17pc of all loans to Irish residents. 

The same banks house about 30pc of Ireland's private sector deposits, giving them some €45bn of funding from Irish companies and individuals. 

The foreign banks' higher share of the deposits market is partly explained by the fact that banks like RaboDirect take deposits but do not lend. 

Foreign banks, like Danske's National Irish Bank and Belgian-owned KBC, have also boasted of the growth in their deposit books as worried savers moved money out of Irish banks.