Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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111. To ask the Minister for Finance if he or officials in his Department have held discussions with EU or US regarding the United States of America and their participating in International Bank Account Number, IBAN, system; his views on whether the inclusion of the US in such a system would improve financial dealings for both consumers and business here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36155/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Neither I nor officials in my department have held discussions in the recent past with either EU or US authorities in relation to the International Bank Account Number, (IBAN) and the United States position towards it. The EU holds regular talks on financial regulation with its key economic partners including the United States, Japan, China, India and Russia. The EU and US also actively participate in the work of the Financial Stability Board. The issue of financial services and financial regulation may be discussed in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) currently underway between the US and EU. It is too early to anticipate if IBAN will feature in the eventual negotiated outcome of the Agreement.

The IBAN uniquely identifies an individual account, at a specific financial institution, in a particular country. The benefits of the IBAN system include quicker processing with lower risk of payment rejection. Approximately 60 countries use IBAN format for account identification including the banks in all countries in the European Economic Area and many states in the Middle East, North Africa and Caribbean. The United States of America is one of a number of countries that do not use IBAN at present. There is no indication that the US will adopt the IBAN standard in the near future.