Shadow banks: Dodgy dealers or misunderstood innovators?

Firms all over Dublin administer parts of the global shadow banking system, but it is the Irish Central Bank which has built up the first fully formed picture of this world. Others now need to share what they know about this intriguing arm of the financial system

In this week’s column, I want to focus on how Ireland’s shadow banks make their money. The Irish shadow banking system manages over €3.6 trillion (with a ’t’) in assets. That is over 11 times the size of our economy. That’s no joke.

Yes folks, this week we are talking shadow banking business models. Grab a coffee. Along the way we’ll meet some Russian money, some models which could only exist to offset ...