EBS has conceded that a further 500 of its customers were caught up in the tracker mortgage scandal, just days before executives from its parent AIB are due to appear before the Oireachtas finance committee.
Dublin-based financial adviser Pádraic Kissane, who has run a long campaign aimed at seeking redress for borrowers affected by the issue, told his clients in a note on Monday that he had been officially informed that EBS had moved to acknowledge a “cohort” of customers and that it had adjusted its interest rates and plans to issue redress letters in the coming weeks.
It is understood that the cases involve customers who originally had cheap loans linked to the main European Central Bank rate, but were denied their right to go back on a tracker mortgage after a period on a fixed rate.
The move means the number of EBS customers hit by the tracker debacle rises to 2,400, bringing AIB’s total to 11,700. It pushes the level of acknowledged cases across the industry – mainly involving the country’s five remaining retail banking groups – to 37,600. Lenders have set aside about €1 billion to date to deal with the cost of refunds, compensation and other work relating to drawing a line under the country’s biggest-ever overcharging controversy.
AIB and its EBS unit, Bank of Ireland, KBC Bank Ireland, Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank are each currently subject to enforcement investigations by the Central Bank as a result of the issue.
AIB chief executive Bernard Byrne and a number of senior colleagues are expected to be questioned on their handling of the tracker scandal when they appear before the Oireachtas finance committee on Thursday.
“I must acknowledge that CBI [Central Bank of Ireland] reviewed these cases in great detail with me and their involvement was crucial,” said Mr Kissane.
