launched an unprecedented attack on the Financial Regulator for their role in the financial crisis which resulted in tens of thousands of people in mortgage arrears. The same month, it was reported that the German television station ZDF in a programme filmed in Ireland on banking said ‘'is an open secret that the rules here are not exactly strict'’. Almost simultaneously external reviewers highlighted the "unacceptable" pace of investigation into how the financial system in Ireland came close to collapse "leaves a lot to be desired". This was contrasted with the US and Iceland, which have moved faster to examine what went wrong. "Furthermore, there has been very little outcome from ongoing investigations into dealings at some of our major institutions by the Financial Regulator". Criminal prosecutions by the Garda Síochána against managers in banks who committed offences are being undermined as the FR were aware of the alleged offences, took no action to stop them and thus provided an arguable defence to those who committed wrongdoing, as they could reasonably claim they were acting with the approval of regulatory authorities at all times. One line of inquiry being investigated by detectives is that the FR did not inform the Department of Finance of all facts they knew about the banking industry. Two arrests were made following a complaint made by two officials in the Financial Regulator's office. The European Commission in a November 2010 review of the financial crisis said "Some national supervisory authorities failed dramatically. We know that in Ireland there was almost no supervision of the large banks". Five years elapsed before the FR forced Davy Stockbrokers to inform investors, who lost tens of millions of Euro, that ‘'the instrument sold was not compliant with the Trustees (Authorised Investments) Order at the time of its sale as it was not listed on a recognised Stock Exchange'’ and it "dealt as principal in both the purchase and sale and was in breach of the rules of the Irish Stock Exchange by not disclosing this fact on its contract note'’. The effected parties had settled their claim against the stockbroker, before receiving the notification, and it was suggested they could have received much more compensation if the FR had ensured that their adverse findings about the case was communicated. The full report was not published and no regulatory action was taken. Within days, after the arrival in Ireland of