Central Bank targets a further nine banks

THE CENTRAL Bank is to pay a visit to nine further banks in a bid to expose the true scale of the tracker mortgage scandal, the Irish Daily Mail can reveal.

The trawl of files could take up until at least next March – meaning that the full scale of the crisis may not be known until then.

The Bank has conducted on-site investigations in two banks to date.

In total, they have uncovered 7,000 extra cases which are now being disputed by the banks.

A spokesman confirmed to the Mail that it will go into the nine remaining banks by the end of next March.

It is understood that this is aimed at rooting out further cases.

This timeline could be further pushed out if large number of previously unidentified affected homeowners are discovered.

On the 7,000 cases which are currently outside the redress plans, a spokesman said: ‘The Central Bank’s final decision on disputed groups of customers will be made and communicated to the banks as part of the supervisory process.

‘This consideration does not impact on the ongoing payment of redress and compensation to other affected customers, as under the Central Bank’s examination, the issuance of redress and compensation is running concurrently. Given the Central Bank’s assurance work is not yet complete, there may be further cases to be identified.’

Plans to physically go through the bank’s documents as part of a trawl were first revealed in the Oireachtas Finance Committee.

Central Bank Director of Financial Services Derville Rowland confirmed at the committee that the purpose of the on-site inspections was to identify impacted groups which the banks had not identified. Eleven lenders have been implicated in the tracker scandal. Two have been subjected to on-site visits.

Speaking about the deadline, Ms Rowland said: ‘Our aim is to have the balance of the nine on sites concluded by the end of the first quarter of 2018. However, I have to be clear that if we find a lot more problems than we anticipate, it might take longer. The nine are under way.’

She added that the onsite inspections involve ‘the use of authorised officer powers, going in, checking and looking at the documents.’

Central Bank Governor Philip Lane described this as ‘assurance work’ aimed at ‘expanding the pool of people who can be covered’.

Mr Lane also said he expected a substantial number of additional individuals to be identified in the coming weeks and months.