Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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43. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the Bank of Ireland's closure of the bank account of the Cuba Support Group due to a business relationship with a US bank; his further views on whether this is an appropriate action; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37743/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy might be aware that I have responded to a number of recent Parliamentary Questions on  this same topic and, for the benefit of the Deputy I repeat my answer as follows:

I have no direct function in the relationship between banks and their customers.  Neither do I have a statutory function in relation to banking decisions made by individual lending institutions at any particular time as these decisions are taken by the Board and Management of the relevant institution. A Relationship Framework has been specified that defines the nature of the relation ship between the Minister for Finance and each bank. These Frameworks were published on 30 March 2012 and can be found at: .

Notwithstanding this, officials in my Department have referred the issue to Bank of Ireland and have received the following comment in this regard:

"The US Government has a restrictive trade embargo against Cuba. The US legislative and regulatory measures include an embargo on making or receiving payments from Cuba and/or facilitating the making or receiving of payments from Cuba.

Bank of Ireland depends on correspondent banks for the processing of our national, European and international transactions, including our SEPA (Single European Payment Area) transactions. We are reliant on our correspondent banks because they process and facilitate all such transactions on our behalf. The current issue has arisen as a result of the transition to SEPA. As it happens, our principal correspondent bank for SEPA transactions is a leading US bank who must comply with its own regulatory requirements and obligations to avoid a possible exposure to regulatory sanctions and penalties.

As a result, we are not in a position to process such transactions. This affects all international payments to or from Cuba and also any related SEPA payments."

I have also been asked previously if I, as Minister for Finance, would challenge relevant U.S. policy. My response, which has not changed, is to highlight that US policy in this regard is not restricted to Ireland and extends worldwide and accordingly I do not intend to challenge this policy as I would not expect a positive outcome to such an action.