BANKING: Bank of Ireland has reacted angrily to references to it in the Ansbacher report and said it would be wrong to conclude the bank knowingly colluded in wrongdoing.
A director of the bank, the former CRH chairman, Mr Tony Barry, is also mentioned as a client of Ansbacher.
In a statement the bank said the inspectors' comments referring to accounts opened by Mr Des Traynor at Bank of Ireland Private Banking (BOIPB) were not a "fair reflection" of the position and left it open to "subjective judgment" that the bank colluded in facilitating tax evasion. "Bank of Ireland rejects any implied criticism of its actions in the light of its peripheral role and limited dealings with Mr Traynor and Ansbacher Bank," it said.
Details of Mr Barry's association with Ansbacher had been previously revealed, although the Bank of Ireland chairman, Mr Laurence Crowley, and the court of directors will review the report's findings. A spokesman refused to comment on this aspect of the report.
Mr Barry asked Mr Traynor to establish financial arrangements for two of his children who were not resident in Ireland. Mr Barry told the inspectors the monies transferred to this account had been properly declared for income-tax purposes. Transfers to Mr Barry's children were debited to Ansbacher's account in Irish Intercontinental Bank (IIB).
The report reveals that in 1992 Mr Traynor opened two deposit accounts in the names of two companies registered in the Cayman Islands at Bank of Ireland's Private Banking subsidiary. When opening the accounts, Mr Traynor told the head of BOIPB, Mr Michael Moriarty, he had lodged funds in another bank, but he wished to "spread them around a bit".
The two accounts were opened as non-resident accounts which were automatically exempt from paying Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT). Monies were transferred to the accounts from an account in Ansbacher's name in IIB.
The inspectors interviewed Mr Moriarty and Mr Andrew Brennan, the relationship manager at the private banking arm, who both said they were aware that these companies held monies which were beneficially owned by other individuals.
The inspectors contend the bank should not have opened a non-resident account without ascertaining whether the beneficial owners of those funds were resident in Ireland or elsewhere for tax purposes. The two bank officials totally rejected this assertion, saying they were satisfied that the companies themselves were non-resident and they were not obliged to make any further inquiries.
The inspectors accepted that account documentation was in order but implied that Bank of Ireland had knowledge that the funds in those accounts were owned by Mr Traynor's clients and that they should have questioned their non-resident status.