Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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175. To ask the Minister for Finance the position of the Government with regard to Irish banks, particularly those that are largely in State hands, freezing or suspending the accounts of customers who conduct personal banking with Iran-based bank accounts. [4100/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that Banks are designated persons under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, and consequently have Anti-Money Laundering / Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations to meet under that legislation. In meeting these obligations, banks are required to adopt a risk based approach as to how they conduct their business and who they conduct it with. I therefore have no role in influencing the risk tolerances banks should accept in this area and consequently cannot direct them as to what approach they should adopt.

Additionally, Irish banks are subject to the provisions of Council Regulation (EU) No. 267/2012 of 23 March 2012 and Council Regulation (EU) No 359/2011 of 12 April 2011 which impose restrictive measures (sanctions) in relation to Iran and the individuals listed in their annexes.

My officials contacted the three banks in which the State has a shareholding and received the following responses:

AIB

"The bank may freeze or suspend accounts for any customer where required to do so to meet regulatory or legal requirements"

PTSB

"In line with our terms & conditions and in order to ensure we meet our overarching obligations in terms of the prevention of money Laundering/terrorist financing and compliance with Sanctions; PTSB does not process any payments to or from Iran-based bank accounts"

Bank of Ireland

"Bank of Ireland is a diversified Financial Services Group which adheres to all legislative and regulatory requirements applicable in each of the jurisdictions in which it operates. These include all requirements emanating from the European Union, HM Treasury, United Nations and US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

"In line with Department of Finance guidelines in relation to country and geographic risks for money laundering and terrorist financing, country risk is not solely related to the country of origin of a customer but also takes into account business links or other links the customer may have to a particular country.

"As such, when financial institutions within this jurisdiction, including Bank of Ireland, consider a country to be a high risk jurisdiction for the purposes of their AML and sanctions policies, it requires enhanced monitoring to be conducted, in accordance with their legal obligations.”

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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176. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the terms of settlement made by a bank (details supplied) in proceedings taken by members of a group; if he will outline the terms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4123/22]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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177. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that €75 million has been set aside by a bank (details supplied) to deal with the position of investors who for financial, business or other personal reasons could not participate in litigation against the bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4124/22]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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178. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on whether the sum of €75 million is inadequate to reimburse members of a fund (details supplied) who had invested for financial, business or other personal reasons and could not participate in litigation against a bank for the losses incurred by them in the settlement with the bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4125/22]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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179. To ask the Minister for Finance the action he proposes to take to restore the reputation of a bank (details supplied) and fully reimburse members who invested in a fund and who for financial, business or other personal reasons could not participate in litigation against the bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4110/22]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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182. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a fund (details supplied) has been referred to by a person as a legacy issue; the actions that will be taken to support investors who invested in the fund who for financial, business or other personal reasons could not participate in litigation against the bank given that they are continuing to suffer serious continuing financial losses and distress; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4113/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 176, 177, 178, 179 and 182 together.

As the Deputy may be aware, as Minister for Finance, I have no role in the commercial decisions made by any bank in the State. This includes banks in which the State has a shareholding.

Decisions in this regard are the sole responsibility of the board and management of the banks which must be run on an independent and commercial basis. The independence of banks in which the State has a shareholding is protected by Relationship Frameworks which are legally binding documents that cannot be changed unilaterally. These frameworks, which are publicly available, were insisted upon by the European Commission to protect competition in the Irish market. The AIB Relationship Framework is available to view on my Department's website.

My officials contacted AIB and received the following response:

"AIB is undertaking a review of all investments in the property funds, known as Belfry, sold between 2002 and 2006. Each investment is examined on a case by case basis to determine if redress may be due in certain instances. The bank is continuing to communicate with Belfry investors to make them aware of this review, to provide progress updates and to advise a dedicated contact point for any queries. AIB is focused on completing its review of these legacy investments in a timely manner. Based on initial assessments, a provision of €75 million has been taken for the anticipated cost of redress and other related costs that may be payable. This was set out in a note in AIB’s H1 2021 accounts.

"In July 2021, the bank settled legal claims from approximately 270 investors in Belfry Funds. A provision amounting to €25 million was taken at that time in relation to this settlement and the associated costs."

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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180. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has been in communication with the Central Bank and the other regulatory authorities in relation to the losses incurred by those who invested in a fund (details supplied) and who for financial, business or other personal reasons could not participate in litigation against the bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4111/22]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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181. To ask the Minister for Finance the action the Central Bank and the other regulatory bodies have or propose to take against a bank (details supplied) and the relevant officers of the bank resulting from a settlement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4112/22]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 and 181 together.

I thank the Deputy for his questions. Officials from my Department contacted the Central Bank of Ireland and received the following response:

"The Central Bank intervenes, within the scope of its regulatory mandate, to ensure the interests of consumers and investors are protected by focusing on the issues that pose the greatest potential or actual risk of harm to consumers and investors. We require firms to put things right where they have made errors or cause consumer or investor harm, and through our continuing supervision of firms, we monitor the investigation and provision of redress and compensation for consumers and investors, where appropriate.

"We are aware of the decision by AIB to establish a programme to review all investments in the Belfry Funds on a case-by-case basis to determine if redress may be due in certain instances, as per its disclosure, which states inter alia “The Group has instigated a programme, which is ongoing, to review all investments in the Belfry funds on a case by case basis and to determine if redress may be due in certain instances.” All investors are included in the review without any action required by them at this time. AIB has written to all investors and has committed to communicating with them throughout the programme to advise on progress and the outcome of the review.

"As you will be aware, due to supervisory confidentiality obligations under national legislation (Section 33AK of the Central Bank Act, 1942) and EU law, we are unable to provide you with any information about our specific supervisory engagement with individual firms. However, please be assured that we have made clear our expectations of all regulated firms, that consumers and investors are treated in a fair and transparent way, and that firms fully comply with both regulations and our supervisory expectations. If consumers or investors have queries in relation to their Belfry Funds, they should contact AIB directly atbelfryenquiries@aib.ie."