to result in positive consumer outcomes. moreover, delivery for your customers requires that retail banks are financially and operationally resilient, well - governed, understand and manage their risks and have sustainable business models. whatever changes come to products, services, delivery channels and customer expectations, these fundamentals will remain of crucial importance and will continue to form the basis of the central bank ’ s approach to the prudential supervision of the retail banking sector. thank you for your attention. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [ 1 ] with thanks to marie duffy, joe mccullough, micheal kelly, padraig browne and mary - elizabeth mcmunn for their help in drafting these remarks. [ 2 ] irish banking culture board : changing banking culture in ireland. [ 3 ] central bank of ireland : new requirements introduced to provide additional transparency and facilitate mortgage switching ( 20 june 2018 ). [ 4 ] sibley, ed : building financial resilience, address to money advice & budgeting service ( mabs ) national conference ( 5 november 2019 ). [ 5 ] central bank of ireland : behaviour and culture of the irish retail banks ( july 2018 ). [ 6 ] rowland, derville : the senior executive accountability regime : our expectations of firms, address to ibec fraud prevention forum ( 31 october 2019 ). [ 7 ] sibley, ed : is it legal? a questions of culture, address to eversheds sutherland conference on “ leadership and culture change in financial services ” ( 14 november 2017 ). [ 8 ] world economic forum : big data, big impact : new possibilities for international development ( 22 january 2012 ). [ 9 ] enria, andrea : a binary future? how digitalisation might change banking speech at the banking seminar organised by de nederlandsche bank, amsterdam ( 11 march 2019 ) [ 10 ] central bank of ireland : cross industry guidance in respect of information technology and cybersecurity risks ( september 2016 ). [ 11 ] university of cambridge judge business school : cyber risk outlook 2018 [ 12 ] sibley, ed : the need for resilience in the face of disruption, address to the financial central summit ( november 2018 ) [ 13 ] central bank of ireland : conference on outsourcing ( 30 april 2019 ). [ 14 ] european banking authority : final guidelines on ict risk assessment

so let me start with your customers and how you say that you are delivering for them. you are : “ backing brave ” ; “ providing help for what matters ” ; the “ bank of you ” ; and encouraging customers to “ begin ” or “ keep going ”. all admirable sentiments, doubtless carefully considered, expensively developed and suggestive of a desire for a deep and longlasting relationship between bank and customer. however, the real test of a relationship is not when things are new and going well, but over the long term, including when difficulties are experienced, when there are bumps in the road. in circumstances when trust is low and one party in the relationship has repeatedly resisted doing the right thing, one has to question the future of that relationship. on too many serious issues – such as tracker mortgages, non - performing loans, some brexit preparedness issues - the central bank has had to push too many retail banks too hard over too long to actually put your customers first. too often in the recent past the retail banks ’ behaviours have not been consistent with your slogans and your stated desire to build trust and have longstanding relationships with your customers. looking at one crucial market today, the mortgage market, there is a high reliance on inertia to enable sizeable differences in interest rates to persist between new customers and existing ones. the central bank has acted to ensure that customers are informed if their provider is offering cheaper interest rates3, but switching remains low. furthermore, sustainable resolution of mortgage arrears has required determined and ongoing central bank intervention to protect consumers ’ interests. i spoke at length on this topic at mabs ’ national conference last week4, so i will only touch on it briefly. it is disappointing that today the central bank is still having to push banks and non - banks too hard to take a customer centric approach to resolving arrears. the central bank does not have a preference for loan sales. we have a preference for sustainably reducing non - performing loans. there are multiple tools available, including : re - engaging with borrowers, restructures, accounting write downs, mortgage to rent, engaging through the insolvency service, sales and securitisations and the legal process. your commitment to delivering for your customers must continue to extend to those that are in difficulty if you truly want to be considered trustworthy. workouts remain hugely important. banks need to engage with their customers in a sensible