The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland

Activities and protection

What they can do, and how you are protected

• Hold or safeguard your money FSCS may apply
  Eligible deposits are typically protected by the FSCS up to £120,000 per person, per banking group.
• Give regulated advice FSCS may apply
  A claim for unsuitable advice is itself FSCS-protected, up to the limit that applies to the product you were advised on.
• Manage or trade investments FSCS may apply
  Eligible investment and pension claims are typically FSCS-protected up to £85,000 per person, depending on the product and your circumstances.
• Advise on or arrange mortgages FSCS may apply
  Mortgage advice and arranging may be FSCS-covered, up to the limit that applies.
• Lend or arrange credit No FSCS cover
  Consumer credit is not covered by the FSCS, so there is no compensation scheme if the firm fails.

Check your FSCS cover →

Complaints: You can refer a complaint about this firm to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free, whichever activity it relates to.

Track record

Action taken against them

1 fine in 2004, £375,000 in total. This is part of the official register record and is worth reviewing before going ahead.

• Fined £375,000 on 31 August 2004

  1. On 31 August the FSA imposed a financial penalty of £375,000 on the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland (BOI) for breaches of SYSC 3.2.6. REASONS FOR THE PENALTY 2. In the period from December 2001 to May 2003, the Bank of Ireland (BOI) breached SYSC 3.2.6 by failing to take reasonable care to establish and maintain effective systems and controls to counter the risk that BoI's bank drafts facility might be used to further financial crime and for ensuring that staff understood their anti-money laundering responsibilities in relation to the recognition and reporting of suspicious transactions. 3.BoI demonstrated serious failings in that: (1) BoI failed to take reasonable steps to detect the misuse of the bank drafts facility provided by a BoI branch(the Branch). The misuse concerned forty bank drafts issued between 1998 and 2002 worth approximately £2,000,000. These bank drafts were issued for cash at the request of the Branch's largest customers (the Customer). All 40 bank drafts were made payable to the Bank of Ireland. These transactions were in breach of BoI's policy and procedures. Issuing bank drafts in this manner disguised the identity of the beneficial owner of the cash and, as such, was an effective means of laundering money. These transactions were not identified as suspicious by the staff at the Branch or by other managers who were aware of the transactions. (2)The systems and controls employed by BoI to monitor the issuing of bank drafts at BoI branches were inadequate despite bank drafts being identified by BoI as a potential method of money laundering in 1994. In particular, these controls did not require a full assessment of whether bank drafts were issued in accordance with BoI's policies and procedures. (3)BoI did not take appropriate steps to ensure that it had in place a system to check that staff had understood the money laundering training that was delivered to them, specifically that they had sufficient understanding to recognise and report suspicious transactions. The FSA accepts that the content of the training provided to staff was adequate. (4)There was a high risk that these trainsactions could have been used to facilitate money laundering. The circumstances in which the bank drafts were issued have resulted in an investigation by the appropriate law enforcement agency. 4 The FSA recognises that, although the systems to prevent the misuse of drafts and to ensure staff understood their anti-money laundering resplonsibilities were the same across the BoI's branch network, the material misuse of drafts only occurred at the Branch. The FSA considers that the failures demonstrated by the Branch are a material breach of SYSC 3.2.6.

Common questions

Frequently asked questions