KILKENNY, Ireland–A credit union here has been hit with the largest-ever fine assessed an Irish CU. St Canice’s Credit Union was fined €210,000 by the Central Bank for its failure to report a data breach to the regulator. No members have suffered any losses as a result.
The Central Bank charged the €350-million credit union with attempting to cover up the breach for more than a year. According to The Independent, the breach involved the SCCU failing to properly check and verify its accounts when it was migrating to a new IT system in 2014.
The failure to reconcile its main bank account over a 15-month period exposed member savings to a risk of loss, the Central Bank said.
When St. Canice’s became aware of the failure, it failed to report it to the Central Bank, and “during that time knowingly submitted five inaccurate quarterly prudential returns to the Central Bank”, according to a statement by the regulator.
Issues Addressed
The Central Bank said it is now satisfied that St Canice’s has addressed all issues of concern identified in the investigation.
The director of enforcement and anti-money laundering in the Central Bank, Seána Cunningham, told the Independent said the fact that the credit union knowingly submitted incorrect prudential returns to the Central Bank for 15 months was unacceptable.
“This is unacceptable as the Central Bank relies on these returns to assess the financial position and stability of credit unions,” she was quoted as saying.