Bank fined a record €100M
50 HOUSES LOST IN TRACKER SCANDAL
BANK of Ireland has been fined a record €100.5 million over its handling of the State’s tracker mortgage scandal.
It is the largest fine ever imposed on a lender by the Central Bank, eclipsing the previous record of €96.7m in June against AIB and its EBS subsidiary for their involvement in the industrywide overcharging controversy.
The Central Bank said the appropriate fine was €143.6m, but this was cut 30 per cent to €100,520,000 in line with the settlement discount scheme.
Bank of Ireland admitted to 81 regulatory breaches relating to 15,910 tracker accounts between August 2004 and June this year, with the bank denying them a tracker or putting them on the wrong rate.
Its failures resulted in the loss of 50 properties, including 25 family homes, which would have been avoided if it had complied with the most basic and fundamental of its consumer protection obligations, the Central Bank stated. “Customers are entitled to expect that they will be treated fairly and that financial institutions will act in their best interests,” said Seana Cunningham, the Central Bank’s director of enforcement.
“Bank of Ireland failed to meet these most basic expectations for almost 16,000 of its customers over an extended period of time.
“Our investigation exposed a culture in Bank of Ireland which, when faced with a choice, prioritised its own interests with little to no regard for the impacts on its customers.
Harm
“Bank of Ireland repeatedly interpreted unclear contractual terms in its own favour and against the customer, which continued the harm and loss to customers over many years.”
Bank of Ireland interim chief Gavin Kelly added: “What took place in relation to tracker mortgages was wrong.”