Sinn Féin spokesperson on Finance Pearse Doherty TD has said that breaches by Ulster Bank – which have resulted in a record fine of €38 million – reveal an environment devoid of any accountability in the banking sector.

The Central Bank found serious failings in how Ulster Bank treated their customers, causing avoidable and unacceptable harm, which resulted in 29 families losing their homes.

Speaking this afternoon, Teachta Doherty said:

“The €38 million record fine meted out against Ulster Bank by the Central Bank is proof, yet again, that the rot at the centre of our financial sector has not gone away.

“Worse still, not a single individual in Ulster Bank has been held to account.

“The Central Bank found that Ulster Bank’s actions impacted 5,940 mortgage accounts and resulted in 29 families losing their homes.

“This involved taking mortgage customers off their tracker rates and failing to comply with the Tracker Mortgage Examination, among other breaches.

“Harm was carried out by Ulster Bank even during the Examination, with its failure to comply with the Central Bank’s Stop the Harm Principles.

“While families lost their homes as a result of decisions made and actions taken at Ulster Bank, not a single person at the Bank has lost their job or been held to account for their actions.

“This keeps happening again and again. Malpractice, customers damaged, corporate fines and zero accountability.

“Fine Gael could have changed this in 2015 when the Governor of the Central Bank warned them of a gap in the legislation that precluded them from holding senior bankers individually accountable.

“Over five years later and Fine Gael are still sitting on legislation that would hold senior executives individually accountable for such actions.

“For the thousands of borrowers who were harmed by Ulster Bank, today’s fine is too little, too late.”