The High Court has refused an application by the Director of Corporate Enforcement to disqualify a retired National Irish Bank (NIB) regional manager from involvement in the management of any company on grounds of unfitness, writes Mary Carolan.

Mr Justice Roderick Murphy ruled yesterday that, in all the circumstances of his case and in light of legal decisions, it would be "inappropriate" to make a disqualification order against Kevin Curran (61) of Avondale Court, Blackrock, Co Dublin.

The judge said he would uphold "in broad terms' the findings of the inspectors into the affairs of NIB, on foot of which the disqualification order was sought. However, he was satisfied there was no finding against Mr Curran in relation to the "commission" of any of a number of improper practices within the bank and nor did the "omissions" of Mr Curran justify a disqualification order.

While the court "might have expected a more assiduous approach to compliance", particularly when Mr Curran became head of retail with NIB, it appeared he did not have the authority to bring about a cessation of certain improper practices at the bank, the judge found.

There was "dilatory and ultimately ineffectual intervention" by Mr Curran about tackling various practices, such as improper charging of fees to accounts, but he did not appear to have a line of communication to the audit committee or the board of directors, was not involved in the direction or governance of the bank and had to work "within organisational difficulties".

The "systems error in the management and control" of the bank had allowed the improper practices to remain and continue.

The judge noted that Mr Curran, who now works three days a week in risk management, had given evidence that a disqualification order would bring his career to an end, "given that the basic currency in banking was honesty and integrity".

The director's application had had a traumatic effect on him personally, his health and his family.

The disqualification application is one of nine brought by the director against various NIB executives, based on the findings of inspectors Tom Grace and John Blayney in their July 2004 report, following their investigation into the tax evasion scandal of the 1990s in NIB.

The inspectors made serious findings of improper practices in NIB which had the effect of facilitating tax evasion and the levying of unwarranted fees and interest charges. They found Mr Curran was among senior managers who were aware of various improper practices and failed to take appropriate or adequate action to stop them. Mr Curran rejected those findings and denied that he was unfit to be involved in the management of any company.

In his judgment, the judge noted that Mr Curran became regional manager of NIB in 1988 and was head of retail banking from 1996, until he retired in 1997. He had spent his entire career with the bank.

The premise of the director's application was that Mr Curran was a member of the bank's senior management with responsibility to ensure the bank complied with its legal and professional obligations, the judge said.

There was no evidence Mr Curran was a director or shadow director or involved in the management of the company in that sense. The inspectors appeared to have considered regional managers as senior while branch managers were not so considered.

In the absence of clear organisational charts relating to the restructuring of NIB after its takeover by the National Bank of Australia, the judge said he could only conclude there was some doubt about Mr Curran's status as senior manager.

The obligation to ensure tax was discharged was a responsibility for every manager within the bank and procedures should have been in place, even if business would be lost to other institutions, the judge said.

Revenue evidence was that banks generally at the time were "lax with regard to tax compliance" and concerned about the flight of capital from the economy. This did not exonerate any manager but put matters of compliance in the context of the climate at the time, the judge said. "Mr Curran on his own could not have eliminated the problem". While Mr Curran was aware of the very sensitive nature of CMI policies, he could not have ensured that the promotion within NIB of those policies ceased, the judge also held.