Bank of Ireland fined over €3m for breaching money laundering, terror financing rules

*The Central Bank said it identified 12 occasions where the bank failed to enforce rules over three years from 2010….

Bank of Ireland has been fined more than three million euro after it admitted breaching laws drawn up to thwart terrorists and criminals.

The Central Bank said it identified 12 occasions where the bank failed to enforce rules to combat money laundering and financing terrorism over three years from 2010.

The regulator said there were significant weaknesses and failures in Bank of Ireland’s controls, policies and procedures.

The Central Bank’s director of enforcement Derville Rowland said: “Such behaviour is unacceptable and falls far short of the standard expected of one of Ireland’s largest retail banks.

“Reporting suspicious transactions to the authorities without delay is a fundamental component of an anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing framework.

“It is particularly disappointing that another large retail bank failed to submit six time-critical suspicious transaction reports to An Garda Siochana and the Revenue Commissioners promptly.”

Bank of Ireland were fined 3.15m euro after admitting failures in risk assessment, failing to make six suspicious transaction reports as soon as possible and failing to carry out enhanced due diligence on a correspondent bank outside the EU.

Allied Irish Banks was fined 2.3 million euro last month following a separate investigation into similar issues.

Bank of Ireland said it takes its regulatory obligations seriously and regrets that these issues arose.

“The bank has co-operated fully with the Central Bank throughout this investigation and has completed a comprehensive multi-year programme of work to anticipate future legislative requirements while also addressing these issues,” it said.

Courtesy Newrep