Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 May 2017
26. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Finance the details of all fines paid, including the monetary value and transgression for each individual fine, by a bank (details supplied) since the State acquired a majority stake in the bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23364/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, I as Minister for Finance have no function in the relationship between the Irish banks and their regulator, the Central Bank of Ireland. The Central Bank is the statutory supervisory and enforcement authority for regulated financial services providers in Ireland, and it is also responsible for protecting the consumer of financial services. As such, it is the independent responsibility of the Central Bank to ensure that financial institutions and individuals are held accountable for failings where there is sufficient evidence to support such action.
The fines imposed by the bank's regulator in the period since the State acquired a majority shareholding in AIB are as follows:
|
Date |
Breach |
Fine |
|
2017 |
Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act, 2010 |
€2,275,000 |
|
2013 |
Management of Liquidity Risk and the European Communities (Licensing and Supervision of Credit Institutions) Regulations 1992 |
€490,000 |
I will briefly comment on the most recent fine imposed.
It is the independent responsibility of the Central Bank to ensure that financial institutions and individuals are held accountable for their compliance with anti-money laundering ("AML") and the obligations set out in the Criminal Justice Act 2010 (CJA 2010) for countering the financing of terrorism ("CFT").
One of the relevant AML/CFT breaches for an ASP case can be a breach of section 42 of the CJA 2010, which requires designated persons to submit a suspicious transaction report ("STR") to An Garda Síochána and to the Revenue Commissioners "as soon as practicable". Designated persons are obliged to submit STRs where a suspicion or knowledge of money laundering or terrorist financing arises during the course of business.
For the purpose of clarification, an investigation under ASP is not a criminal investigation. The Central Bank's supervisory remit is to monitor credit and financial institutions for compliance with AML/CFT control measures. It has not a statutory remit to investigate or prosecute substantive money laundering or terrorist financing offences. Any fine that is imposed for AML/CFT breaches by the Central Bank under ASP relates to control breaches and not to actual money laundering or terrorist financing offences.
