A new law that will allow the regulator to fine financial institutions up to €5 million for mistakes like the AIB foreign exchange overcharging scandal, is not likely to make it through the Oireachtas until late summer, because of delays in the Dáil.
The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, revealed yesterday that the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill's passage through the Oireachtas was delayed by problems with "Dáil time".
The Minister did not specify by how long the legislation was held up.
The Bill was due to begin the final stage in the Dáil yesterday. Following that it will go before the Seanad.
Mr McCreevy said it would be late summer before it made it through the legislature.
When it is enacted, the Bill will give the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) the power to impose fines and other sanctions on banks for breaking the law.
The Government is set to table an amendment to the Bill that will make it a crime for banks to charge customers more for services than the rates approved by IFSRA, and it will impose a maximum penalty of €5 million for the offence.
The law that established IFSRA gave it extensive power to investigate institutions, but not to sanction them.
The Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill includes provision for penalising the banks.
The gap in the legislation means that AIB is unlikely to face any sanction for overcharging customers for an estimated 10 years on non-cash foreign exchange transactions valued at over €635 (£500).
The Minister was speaking at the launch of the Irish Exporters' Association's (IEA) foreign exchange strategy for its members.
Mr John Whelan said that a number of the association's members believed AIB had overcharged them on transactions between 1994 and last month.
He said that the IEA was referring those complaints on to both the bank and IFSRA.
Asked if he had a view on the bank's handling of the current scandal, Mr McCreevy said that he would prefer to wait for the outcome of the investigations being carried out by the bank and IFSRA.
