Irish bank fined 2.3m euros

The Central Bank of Ireland on Wednesday fined Allied Irish Banks 2.3 million euros ($1.09 million) for breaches of money laundering and terrorist financing regulations. In a statement, the central bank identified six breaches of the 2010 criminal justice act as a result of significant failures in AIB’s anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing controls, policies and procedures. One of the six breaches refers particularly to AIB’s failure to report suspicious transactions without delay to Irish police and revenue authorities. This is the second enforcement action taken in the last six months by the central bank against a bank for unacceptable weaknesses in its anti-money laundering framework. AIB is one of the big four commercial banks in Ireland. In February 2009, the Irish government announced a massive rescue package for AIB and its rival Bank of Ireland, as their bad loan losses soared following the collapse of a domestic real estate bubble. At present, the government holds 99.9 percent of stake in AIB.