NIB inspectors place ads in newspapers

The inspectors appointed by the High Court to National Irish Bank have placed advertisements in newspapers requesting people with information about interest loading or the encouragement of tax evasion by the bank, to contact them.

The advertisement, published today, comes as the bank has reported a sharp increase in profits in the six months to end of March last, with pre-tax profits up 44 per cent to £16 million.

The figures, published yesterday, related to the half-year trading period which ended days after the bank was forced publicly to admit that it had improperly taken money from the accounts of some customers. National Irish Bank lost business in the immediate aftermath of the interest loading controversy, but chief executive, Mr Graham Savage, insisted that much of this had now been reversed.

The inspectors, Mr Justice John Blayney and Mr Tom Grace, are inquiring into the improper charging of interest and fees by the bank between 1988 and March 1998.

They are also investigating whether, since 1988, any unlawful or improper practices existed or exist in the bank which served to encourage the evasion of revenue or other obligations on the part of the bank or third parties or otherwise. The sale by the bank of the Isle-of-Man-based Clerical Medical International investment bonds is among the matters the inspectors are investigating.