Bank of Ireland Statement on Financial Services Authority Ruling

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today fined Bank of Ireland £375,000 for a breach of the FSA's Systems and Controls Rules. The breach relates to the misuse of the bank drafts facility provided at one of Bank of Ireland's UK branches and was in contravention of the Bank's own policies and procedures.

Bank of Ireland's own review processes identified the breach and brought it to the attention of the FSA. The FSA has commented favourably on the co-operation afforded to it by the Bank during the investigative phase of the matter. In its statement the FSA confirmed that the misuse of bank drafts only occurred in one branch and that, since discovering the breaches, Bank of Ireland has devoted significant resources to investigating the matter. Bank of Ireland has taken steps to ensure there is no reoccurrence of this breach.

For reasons of customer and staff confidentiality, the Bank will not be commenting further on this matter.

Bank of Ireland regrets this breach of its procedures and is fully committed to meeting its obligations in respect of FSA Rules & Principles and to applying high standards throughout its business operations.