While it is regrettable that Ulster Bank has decided to exit the market, such decisions are commercial matters and are the sole responsibility of the board and management of the bank, which must be run on an independent and commercial basis. My priority now is that the withdrawal takes place in an orderly manner. The importance of this is emphasised in all engagements with the banks and my officials and I will continue to engage with relevant stakeholders, both public and private, to ensure that impacted customers face the least amount of disruption in migrating their accounts over the coming months.
In relation to the setting up of new accounts, Credit and Financial Institutions are obliged to identify and verify their customer’s identity on the basis of documents or information that they have reasonable grounds to believe can be relied upon to confirm the identify of their customer. Institutions often use official documents, like passports or driving licences, in order to verify a customer’s identity. However, neither the relevant legislation (the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, as amended), nor the Central Bank of Ireland are prescriptive as to what documents and information can be relied upon. This reflects the risk-based approach to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance and supervision. Accordingly, institutions have some flexibility in regards to the forms of identity documentation they may wish to rely upon.
Therefore, the AML/CFT legal framework is sufficiently flexible to allow institutions to accommodate both financial inclusion and effective risk management through reliance on various forms of identification.
Under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Code, the Central Bank expects that all regulated firms take a consumer-focused approach and act in their customers’ best interests:
- Provision 2.11 of the Code provides that a regulated firm must not, through its policies, procedures, or working practice, prevent access to basic financial services. This provision aims to ensure that vulnerable people can gain access to mainstream financial services.
- Provision 3.1 of the Code provides that “where a regulated entity has identified that a personal consumer is a vulnerable consumer, the regulated entity must ensure that the vulnerable consumer is provided with such reasonable arrangements and/or assistance that may be necessary to facilitate him or her in his or her dealings with the regulated entity.”
I would also advise the Deputy that all of the banks have dedicated customer phone numbers for vulnerable customers to support them as required.
