When Clerical and Medical International investment products came to public prominence in 1998 they were quickly dubbed the "poor man's Ansbacher account". Superficially, at least, they shared many of the features of the Cayman Island deposits and were used for the same purpose by Irish residents anxious to shield their affairs from the taxman.
Under both schemes, money was taken out of Irish deposits and placed with an offshore financial institution, which then deposited the money back in Ireland in a coded account that was safe from the prying eyes of the Revenue Commissioners. The CMI bonds were introduced by National Irish Bank in the early 1990s. Although the product was designed for non-residents, it was sold in considerable numbers to wealthy Irish residents.
The introduction of the bonds coincided with the clampdown on the use of bogus non-resident accounts, which at the time were the favoured method of avoiding tax on savings.
In total, some 470 NIB customers bought CMI bonds and similar products offered by Scottish Provident International in the Isle of Man and Old Mutual in Guernsey.
In many instances they appear to have been sold them on the basis that the returns on the bonds were tax free, even though from 1993 Irish residents had to pay capital gains tax on investment income.
NIB executives, including Ms Beverley Cooper-Flynn, targeted wealthy individuals, who would purchase an investment bond, which was in fact a type of life assurance policy that allowed the owners choose where and how the money would be invested on their behalf by CMI.
In many cases the money was placed back on deposit with the NIB branch that it had originally come from, but this time it was in an account in the name of CMI rather than the Irish resident.
In the early stages of the scheme a small number of customers had access to their coded deposits in their branches, in a fashion that mimicked the more sophisticated Ansbacher operation. In the region of £62 million was invested in the various schemes, over half of it - £35 million - by 230 CMI participants.
Once the existence of the various schemes came to light in 1998, all the investors were investigated by the Revenue Commissioners. The authorities looked into the source of the funds as well as collecting the capital gains tax, plus penalties, which was owed. The resulting settlements have averaged more than £50,000 per customer.
In January NIB entered into negotiations with its customers on foot of allegations that it mis-sold the policies as tax free. NIB is offering to compensate investors for the portion of their tax bills that relates to unpaid CGT in exchange for an agreement by the customers not to sue the bank.