AIB has confirmed that the report into overcharging at the bank will be delayed for up to a month because of the scale of the work now being undertaken by the independent investigators it appointed. The bank has also said that there will be two reports issued as a result of the probe.
The initial investigation centred on overcharging on certain foreign exchange transactions, and on payment protection plans, and has now been widened to look at all charges which were notifiable to the financial regulator since 1996.
The independent investigation is being carried out by accountants from Deloitte under the chairmanship of Lauri McDonnell, a former Comptroller and Auditor General. They, along with the financial regulator, IFSRA have advised the bank that more time is needed
The first report will deal with the amount of overcharging involved, including the interest to be paid, and the number of customers affected. AIB has already set aside €25m to compensate customers for overcharging in the foreign exchange area.
This will be given to AIB and IFSRA before the end of July, and will be followed 'shortly afterwards' by a second report, which will deal with why the overcharging occurred and why it was allowed to persist for such a long period. Another report on systems and control issues will be submitted to AIB and IFSRA after this.
IFSRA, has already said that its report into overcharging will not be ready before the end of July. It is understood around 100 people are now involved in investigations into the overcharging at AIB.
