Citibank Europe fined for breaches of banking rules in Ireland

The Central Bank of Ireland announced on Monday that it has fined Citibank Europe plc 1.33 million euros for its breaches of the relevant banking rules in Ireland.

In a statement on its website, the Central Bank of Ireland said that the Dublin-registered Citibank Europe was found guilty of breaches of the Code of Practice on Lending to Related Parties (Code).

The Code, which has two editions promulgated in 2010 and 2013 respectively, is created to ensure the transparent and fair transactions between credit institutions and related parties which could refer to a natural person or an entity that is closely related to the credit institution in terms of economic interests.

The investigation found that Citibank Europe breached certain provisions of the Code between January 1, 2011 and September 14, 2016, said the Central Bank of Ireland, adding that the breaches varied in duration with the shortest being one year and five months and the longest being four years and six months.

The breaches include failure to put in place the necessary governance, policies and procedures to implement the Code until two years and eight months after the Code came into effect, said Seana Cunnigham, the Central Bank's Director of Enforcement and Anti Money Laundering.

These deficiencies were followed by breaches of reporting and loan approval requirements of the Code, he added.

Citibank Europe's violations of the Code rules were first found by the European Central Bank (ECB) after a merger of Citibank Europe and Citibank International Limited (CIL), an affiliate of Citibank Europe in Britain, in January 2016 as the merger involved a number of European branches of CIL, according to the statement.

The ECB referred this case to the Central Bank of Ireland in June 2017, it said.

Citibank Europe has admitted all the breaches, it said, adding that the Central Bank of Ireland is satisfied that Citibank Europe has taken the necessary steps to rectify the deficiencies that gave rise to the breaches.