Dublin investment firm’s bank accounts frozen by Central Bank

The Central Bank has frozen the bank accounts of Asset Management Trust, an independent Dublin investment firm, having carried out inquiries into client assets, investment issues and other matters, it has been confirmed.

The authority has asked AMT not to take on new business in an intervention that came about after some clients of the company raised concerns about the valuation of investments.

Filings in the Companies Registration Office show that the directors of AMT, which has an address at Fosters Avenue, Mount Merrion, Dublin, are Robert Brickell and Gerard McCoy.

The latest annual return on file is for the year to January 2012 and shows that Mr McCoy held 85 per cent of the company's shares, with Mr Brickell and Fergus Slattery owning the rest. Mr Slattery was reported today as having said he sold his shares some months ago.

Efforts to contact the directors today were unsuccessful. A spokeswoman for the Central Bank said it had no comment to make on the subject.

The company has assets under management of €30 million to €40 million. The Central Bank is understood to have begun inquiries into the company’s affairs in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has confirmed that the Central Bank has imposed fines totalling €575,640 to date this year in relation to administrative sanctions procedure cases.

In a written Dáil response to Fianna Fáil's Michael McGrath, Mr Noonan confirmed that the fines concern four cases and include breaches of large exposure requirements, transaction reporting failures, capital adequacy requirements and the insurance mediation regulations.

Failures
One case related to the Central Bank fining Ava Capital Markets €165,000 in March for transaction reporting failures. A second case related to the Central Bank fining UniCredit Bank Ireland €315,000 for breaches of large exposure limits and the failure to have in place proper internal controls around large exposures.

The Central Bank imposed a third fine earlier this month totalling €95,000 on LGT Capital Partners (Ireland) for a breach of capital adequacy regulations.

Mr Noonan said the fourth related to a breach of professional indemnity insurance requirements.

“I have been informed by the Central Bank that this is one of a number of cases relating to a particular enforcement theme and a publicity statement relating to this case along with other cases dealing with the same enforcement theme will issue as a batch later in the year.”