Ulster Bank Ireland Fined for Breaching Obligations to Mortgage Customers
March 25 2021 - 12:11PM
Dow Jones News
By Adriano Marchese
Ulster Bank Ireland DAC has been fined 37.8 million euros ($44.7
million) by the Central Bank of Ireland for breaching obligations
to tracker customers with mortgage accounts.
The Central Bank of Ireland said Thursday that an investigation
found serious failings in the treatment of Ulster Bank Ireland's
tracker customers holding 5,940 mortgage accounts between August
2004 and April 2020.
A tracker mortgage is a type of variable-rate mortgage that
tracks another rate--in most cases, a country's central bank's
rate.
Ulster Bank of Ireland, which is a part of NatWest Group PLC,
has been found to deny customers lower tracker rates, which they
were entitled to, despite receiving complaints. The investigation
found that only customers who complained received the lower
rate.
The original fine was for EUR54 million, but was reduced to
EUR37.8 million in a settlement.
"This fine reflects the gravity with which the Central Bank
views UBID's failings. UBID caused unacceptable and avoidable harm
to its impacted tracker customers; from extended periods of
significant overcharging to the loss of 43 properties, 29 of which
were family homes," the central bank said.
Prior to this fine, Ulster Bank Ireland had already been
required to pay EUR128 million to affected customers as part of the
Central Bank's Tracker Mortgage Examination, which was established
in 2015 to ensure lenders were providing tracker customers with
their entitlements.
Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 25, 2021 11:56 ET (15:56 GMT)
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