UniCredit Bank Ireland fined €315,000 over bonds exposure

UniCredit Bank Ireland has been fined €315,000 for being exposed to too many Spanish and Italian bonds on a number of dates in 2011 and 2012.

The Central Bank also said UniCredit Ireland, a subsidiary of Italy's biggest lender, had too much exposure to a single unnamed client between November and December 2012.

This is the first settlement by the Central Bank with a firm for breaches of large exposure limits and the failure to have in place proper internal controls around large exposures.

The purpose of the large exposure requirements is to limit the level of exposure which a firm has to an individual or entity so that if that individual or entity was in difficulty this would not have a significant impact on the firm.

UniCredit’s local unit notified the central bank of the breaches, according to a statement from the Central Bank. The company has taken “appropriate remedial steps” to rectify the breaches, the regulator said.

The Central Bank is tasked with monitoring the level of large exposures which a firm has and their compliance with large exposure limits to ensure that firms are not exposed to significant levels of risk as a result of such exposures.

"The failure by regulated financial services providers to ensure that they comply with large exposure limits at all times is viewed as a serious matter by the Central Bank given the potential risks to a firm's stability in the event of an individual or an entity falling into financial difficulty," said director of enforcement Derville Rowland.

UniCredit Bank Ireland’s main area of business is international lending, according to its website, with a loan portfolio comprising credit institutions, multinational companies and sovereigns.

UniCredit Bank Ireland had assets of €26.2 billion at the end of 2013, with a profit of €47.1 million, according to a report on its website.