Athy Chamber

Difficult times ahead for former BOSI Business Customers

Speaking this afternoon (19/08/10) Ian Talbot, Chambers Ireland Chief Executive said, “today’s announcement will come as no surprise to Bank of Scotland Ireland (BOSI) business customers. While this is grim news for employees, one positive is that BOSI intends to return deposits to their depositors. We expect that a significant proportion of these deposits will now be recycled into the lending market in Ireland from those banks still active in the market.”

“While Chambers Ireland welcomes the fact that BOSI plan to run down their loan book over a multi-year period, one major concern will be for those businesses that were with BOSI, who now face a much more challenging environment in which they will seek a relationship with the remaining banks with whom they have no current track record.“

“This development follows a trend by international banks, including Irish banks with operations abroad, seeking to dispose of foreign assets and concentrating on their respective domestic markets. It is in this context that the BOSI decision should be viewed, rather than seeing this as a commentary on the future of the Irish economy,” Talbot concluded.

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For further information please contact Seán Murphy, Chambers Ireland on 01-4004308, 086-8198766 or email sean.murphy@chambers.ie.

Chambers Ireland is Ireland’s largest business network with 60 member chambers representing 13,000 businesses on the island of Ireland.