A project to centralise National Irish Bank's records at new head office accommodation has been instigated by personnel, the bank's chief executive, Mr Grahame Savage, said yesterday. The move is part of an exercise by the bank to facilitate ongoing investigations.

Mr Savage was attending a manager communication meeting with 150 branch managers at a Dublin hotel to discuss ongoing investigations, customer relations and future developments.

Mr Savage, who is also chief executive of the bank's sister bank, Northern Bank, said there was "a massive information collection" at the new head office premises in Camden Street, Dublin, to assist investigations by a number of bodies into the sale of Clerical Medical Insurance offshore investment bonds and the overcharging of customer accounts. The investigating bodies include the Garda Fraud Squad, the Central Bank, Government inspectors and the Revenue Commissioners. "We have set up a large project to interface with those investigators, to provide them with the information they want," he said.

A secure room was being fitted out to house the information, he said, but he did not wish to speculate on whether the internal investigation by auditors acting on behalf of the bank's owner, National Australia Bank, was complete or when a report on it would be published.

Mr Savage said the meeting was part of a series held every three months. "We feel that it is right to get our managers together so that we can talk to them, and they can respond to us on the issues. It is a very participative session," he said. Customer relationships were being examined through market research and support was "strong". He said the number of closed accounts had not increased over the period. "Overall, we have not suffered great net losses," he said.

There was a lot of determination and a lot of "good support" from the other banks in the group and NIB would not be sold off. "My feeling is that it will not be sold. It is not just my feeling. The group has said it will not be sold," he said.