The Competition Authority report criticising the banking sector for being anti-competitive must be taken seriously, the Minister for Finance, Mr Cowen said today.
He said Department of Finance officials would be "paying particular attention to any recommendations relating to the legislative framework governing financial regulation".
The Authority is due to issue final recommendations in the summer after issuing 40 interim findings in its report published yesterday.
Its main main findings were that practices within the sector are an impediment to the transfer of current accounts and prevents new banks entering the market. And it also claimed that small businesses are losing €85 million annually in interest charges.
"The report's overall conclusion that there are competitive issues to be addressed in the banking sector leading to high costs for customers, must be taken seriously," Mr Cowen said.
Davy Stockbrokers today said the report would be a relief to the States biggest banks.
In a statement issued today, Davy said the interim recommendations of the report only offered "soft remedies" and did not contain any "nasties" such as the requirement to pay interest on current accounts.
However, it said the recommendations, if implemented, should improve competition and were "broadly favourable for smaller players" in the sector.