Bank operations will be detailed

The report on Ansbacher Cayman will document in great detail the operation of the offshore bank in this jurisdiction from the early 1970s up to 1997.

The bank, formerly called Guinness Mahon Cayman Trust, operated here without authorisation, accepted deposits and processed withdrawals. Many people are believed to have lodged income which had not been declared to the Revenue.

The report is also expected to give details of related companies in offshore locations which were associated with the Ansbacher Cayman operation. Many of these, such as Ansbacher, were former subsidiaries of Guinness & Mahon bank, the Dublin merchant bank which has its headquarters on College Green.

The report will detail who was involved in running this clandestine financial service over the years and the amount of money which was lodged with the various banks and offshore trusts. The total is not known but may have run to hundreds of millions of pounds.

The inspectors who drafted the report were asked to name the Irish resident customers of the bank. They were also asked to indicate offences which may have been committed by these customers.

The customers who are named in the report are both individuals and companies. The offences considered by the inspectors are likely to include: tax-evasion, assisting others in evading tax and breaches of the exchange-control regulations which were in existence for much of the period concerned.