Speaking at a press briefing in Dublin on Saturday morning, Mr Paul Appleby, Director of Corporate Enforcement, said:
"The company, now known as Ansbacher (Cayman) Ltd., secretly operated in this jurisdiction for over twenty years and conducted business which, the Inspectors have found, amounts to evidence tending to show that it contravened prevailing banking, tax, company and other legislation. When its activities came to light in 1997, the nation was shocked that such activity had occurred and had remained effectively hidden from official authorities for so long.
In a sense, these revelations infected our collective psyche in subsequent years, creating suspicions that it was possible to evade legal or other obligations without effective sanction and thereby undermining respect for the rule of law and damaging public confidence in the State's institutions.
The conclusion of the Ansbacher inquiry and the publication of this Report represent, in my view, the first phase in purging these doubts and regaining lost ground. In defining publicly for the first time the company's Irish business, the High Court Inspectors (past and present) have done a remarkable public service.
Indeed, the Companies Act 1990, and particularly the company investigation provisions of that Act, have again proved their worth and highlighted the importance of these legal provisions in investigating circumstances suggesting unlawful corporate conduct.
As this important phase of fact-finding investigation concludes, the relevant State Authorities, including my Office, will now examine what remedies are available to address the findings in the Inspectors' Report. My staff and I have commenced identifying the matters which fall within our statutory remit. Every line of potentially valuable inquiry will be examined thoroughly, and I am determined that appropriate action will follow. I am mindful, however, of the Inspectors' comment (at page 18 of their Report) that they foresee some difficulty in bringing prosecutions arising from the matters investigated by them.
As early as next Monday, I will be seeking the approval of the High Court to gain access to certain of the Inspectors' papers, in order to allow us to follow up on a number of issues in the Report. We will also be supporting in due course an application for the recovery of the costs of this Inquiry, in order that the taxpayer does not bear further financial loss as a result of the events described in the Report. In the coming weeks, I will be considering what further action is warranted to remedy or sanction the conduct which is indicated in the Report and is relevant to my responsibilities under the Companies Acts.
I have no doubt that other relevant State Authorities, such as the Central Bank, the Revenue Commissioners and the Director of Public Prosecutions, will closely evaluate their own legal options in the light of the information contained in this Report."