Ian Guider's Market Talk

KBC’s decision to stay in Ireland is just what our shrunken banking sector needs

KBC Bank: an important part of the banking landscape Pic: Bloomberg

Utter lack of competition is laid bare

There were sighs of relief from KBC Bank’s 1,000 staff in Ireland when their parent company in Belgium finally announced it would be keeping control of its business here. That the group chief executive Johan Thijs flew into Ireland to talk about the decision is a sign of how important it was for the bank, and that exiting this country was a real possibility.

KBC is ...