Largest Fine Ever Imposed by Irish Central Bank

AIB fined €83.3mn and EBS fined €13,4mn

Just shy of €100mn, a total amount of fines of €96.7mn, were imposed by the Central Bank of Ireland against AIB and EBS for regulatory breaches affecting tracker mortgage customers.

In the case of:

• AIB  - reprimanded and fined €83,300,000 pursuant to the Central Bank's Administrative Sanctions Procedure (“ASP”) for a series of significant and long-running failings in the treatment of its tracker mortgage customers holding 10,015 mortgage accounts between August 2004 and March 2022. AIB has admitted to 57 separate regulatory breaches.
• EBS - reprimanded and fined €13,400,000, pursuant to its ASP for a series of significant and long-running failings in the treatment of its tracker mortgage customers, holding 2,830 mortgage accounts, between August 2004 and June 2020. EBS has admitted to 36 separate regulatory breaches.

Both fines are net of of a settlement discount procedure scheme, otherwise AIB's fine would have stood at €119,000,000 and EBS's fine at €19,143,000.

The Central Bank’s Director of Enforcement and Anti-Money Laundering, Seána Cunningham said:

• AIB - “The Central Bank has imposed a significant fine on AIB in respect of serious and long running failings in meeting its obligations to its tracker mortgage customers. The consequences of AIB’s prolonged failings were serious and included significant financial strain and distress for those affected and their families. 
• EBS - “The Central Bank has imposed a significant fine on EBS in respect of serious and long running failings in meeting its obligations to its tracker mortgage customers. Mortgage lending is the core of EBS’s business, yet this investigation identified serious deficiencies in EBS’s mortgage services and systems. These deficiencies meant that EBS did not comply with its obligations to customers and many customers lost their tracker product/interest rate margin as a result, and were overcharged for sustained periods of time

CBI Enforcement Publicity Statements:

• AIB
• EBS
• Press Release