Central Bank confirms ex-PTSB chief David Guinane subject of tracker mortgage inquiry

The Central Bank of Ireland has confirmed that former Permanent TSB (PTSB) chief executive David Guinane is the first individual to be put forward for public inquiry for suspected regulatory breaches in relation to the industry-wide tracker mortgage scandal.

The regulator published Mr Guinane’s name on its website on Friday ahead of a public inquiry management meeting on the case that will take place on June 26th, in a building at the Central Bank campus in Dublin’s north docklands. The official in charge of the inquiry, UK barrister Peter Hinchliffe, has held four case management meetings in private since February of last year.

The inquiry hearing will take place between October 2nd and October 20th, according to the Central Bank. The Central Bank said in November 2021 that it was setting up an inquiry into an unnamed former PTSB manager as it had “reasonable grounds to suspect that” the individual had “participated in the commission of a suspected prescribed contravention” of part of the Consumer Protection Code 2006 by the bank. The Irish Times subsequently reported that Mr Guinane was the subject of the inquiry.

The case was linked to the regulator’s previous enforcement action against PTSB that led to the bank being fined €21 million in May 2019 for the “unacceptable harm” it caused certain tracker mortgage customers, including some who lost their homes, when it wrongly denied them their discounted rate.

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The decision to move to an inquiry suggests that Mr Guinane did not reach a settlement agreement with the Central Bank as part of an investigation, and that he believes he has a strong defence.

The maximum fine that the Central Bank can impose on an individual for a breach of financial regulations was doubled in August 2013 to €1 million for regulatory contraventions that occurred after that date.

Mr Guinane worked for PTSB for more than 25 years and served as chief executive of the lender between November 2007 and February 2012.

The executive sued the bank in 2016 claiming he was entitled to a severance payment of more than €866,000 — instead of the €175,000, plus 2½ months’ salary that was offered — when he left the company four years earlier. He alleged at the time that there had been a breach of contract and denial of fair procedures when he exited. Mr Guinane settled the High Court action on undisclosed terms later that year.