DUBLIN, Ireland—A credit union that was illegally paying its directors has been fined by Ireland’s Central Bank.
Drimnagh CU has agreed to pay €125,000 after it was found to be paying directors and members of its oversight committee, the Irish Independent reported.
Credit unions in this country are prohibited by law from paying directors, all of whom are required to volunteer their time.
The Central Bank said that payments to directors and the board oversight committee totaling €16,000 were made between 2013 and 2015 for services provided and in the form of expenses. Directors, who were not named, were paid to attend Irish League of Credit Unions’ meetings, and were also paid expenses on the double, the Independent reported.
The Central Bank also sanctioned Drimnagh CU for weak controls for the paying of expenses to the credit union's officers. The credit union was found to have breached legislation when it came to doing credit checks on members and monitoring the credit union's dealings with members, the Independent stated.
The Central Bank also found that Drimnagh CU had no policies in place for almost a year to ensure it did not breach anti-money laundering legislation, and that it failed to scrutinize some members' transactions.
In a statement reported in the Independent, the credit union said it co-operated fully with the Central Bank probe. "Drimnagh Credit Union can assure members that their savings and deposits are not affected in any way, and can continue to do business with the credit union in the usual way."