FORMER Aran shareholders will benefit from moves by the main banks to waive charges for clearing cheques issued in payment for Aran shares.

The latest moves by Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Ireland and AIB will mean savings of up to £25 for the shareholders - and their cheques will be cleared for payment more speedily. The cheques were issued by Statoil in payment for Aran shares after the acceptance of the Norweigan company's 76p per share bid for Aran.

Royal Bank of Scotland has reached agreement with Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks to waive its clearing charges for former Aran shareholders cashing Statoil cheques.

Earlier this week Bank of Ireland waived its own charges to customers but said it would have to pass on the charges imposed by Royal Bank of Scotland. Allied Irish Banks said yesterday it has waived its charges for customers cashing the Statoil cheques which were issued in payment for Aran shares.

Confirming its agreement with AIB and Bank of Ireland, Royal Bank of Scotland said it hoped to reach similar clearing agreements with the other Irish banks. RBS has made "special arrangements" for clearing the cheques "as a result of the concern shown through the newspapers", a spokesman said.

The bank is supplying funds to clear the cheques in Ireland, he said, adding that the cheques can be cleared "straight away". There will be no charge to former Aran shareholders presenting cheques to Bank of Ireland or AIB, he confirmed.

The Irish pound cheques issued by Statoil to the Irish shareholders were drawn on the Royal Bank of Scotland so they had to be sent back to that bank to be cleared. This meant a delay of about 10 days before customers' cheques were cleared and charges of up to £25 per customer.

Angry former Aran shareholders complained about the Statoil payment arrangements to the Irish banks and to The Irish Times. Shareholders were offered off currency payment could be in pounds, sterling or dollars.

However, because the pound cheques issued were drawn on a foreign bank they had to be sent back to that bank for clearance, causing delay in issuing the cash to customers and giving rise to two sets of service charges. It is estimated that issued cheques to the value of about £14 million were not negotiable in this country.

Statoil said it had been advised that only two banks in Ireland were qualified to deal with the arrangements to pay the former Aran Shareholders. These banks Bank of Ireland and AIB - were unable to act for Statoil because of potential conflicts of interest.

The company then had no alternative but to engage a bank outside Ireland, according to the Statoil spokesman. However, Irish bankers commented that, if Statoil was looking for a bank with a registration department, it would have appointed Ulster Bank.

Alternatively, it could have avoiding the clearing delays by getting RBS to set up an account at any of the five Irish clearing banks so that the cheques could be cleared in Ireland, they said. In the end, pressure from shareholders resulted in RBS providing funds to allow the cheques to be cleared in Ireland.