Sir, - AIB's business philosophy is becoming clearer.
Example 1: If you have enough customers who are engaged in a tax-dodging scheme, you can use the weight-of-numbers argument to extract favourable tax treatment from the Revenue Commissioners.
Example 2: If you lend money to an individual to finance a speculative venture or an unrealistic lifestyle and that individual then assumes a position of political power, it is acceptable to write off these debts to avoid adverse public reaction.
Any more gems like this in the corporate handbook?
In the second example above, AIB judged that its hard pressed personal customers, including those who had been refused credit because of lack of collateral or means of repayment, or who had been pursued through the courts as a result of defaulting on bank loans, would be incensed if fair treatment was meted out to those in positions of power! Have I got that right?
The business philosophy at AIB is simply to maximise profits by whatever means. Equality of treatment and observance of the law are secondary. Unless customers react by denting the bank's profits - ie moving to a competitor - nobody at Bankcentre will take notice. I'd like to offer to start the process, but I moved my accounts away from AIB some years ago. Anybody angry enough to follow? - Yours, etc., Gerry Loughrey,
Coolatree Park, Beaumont, Dublin 9.