The inquiry into AIB's overcharging on foreign-exchange transactions has been completed and is being considered by a sub-committee of the bank's board of directors.
In a statement, AIB said the committee's remit would include the consideration of any appropriate disciplinary proceedings. "Such proceedings would be conducted in accordance with the bank's disciplinary code and would ensure that individuals were afforded full rights to due process," it said.
The committee members are AIB head of finance Mr Gary Kennedy, and two non-executive directors, former US ambassador to Ireland Mr Mike Sullivan, and Ms Jenny Winter, the chief executive of the Barretstown camp for seriously ill children.
This committee will determine the bank's response to the outcome of the inquiry, which was undertaken by Deloitte and independently assured by former comptroller and auditor general Mr Lauri McDonell. The bank will inform the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority of all of the actions it will take on foot of the findings, it said.
The statement said it was not appropriate for AIB to comment further at this stage.
IFSRA is carrying out its own investigation into the overcharging of foreign exchange customers from September 1995 to April 2004.
AIB is returning €34.2 million to customers who were overcharged. In its interim report, IFSRA found that the bank had failed to notify the regulator as required.
It was said in July that a second report would be published in the autumn, possibly in September. The report was to deal with such key issues as: whether someone had consciously set out to overcharge AIB customers; whether anyone had noticed the overcharging; and whether anyone had sought to cover up the issue.
IFSRA will be incorporating Mr McDonnell's findings into its examination and is expected to issue its report on the scandal towards the end of this year.Some sources have suggested that the publication of its final report has been delayed by legal difficulties involved in naming anyone found responsible for any failings.
IFSRA's chief executive, Mr Liam O'Reilly, has warned directors and senior executives of Irish financial institutions that they will be held responsible for upholding the law. Meanwhile, the bank has started a trawl to find potential external candidates to succeed its chief executive, Mr Michael Buckley.
It has announced that it will appoint a chief executive designate next year who would take over the top job when Mr Buckley retires.
