Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland Limited

the Central Bank has taken the following into account:  the firm has taken appropriate remedial steps to rectify the breaches, including the implementation of enhanced systems and controls to ensure compliance with the complaints handling requirements of the Code;  the cooperation of the firm during the investigation and in settling at an early stage in the administrative sanctions procedure. The Central Bank confirms that the matter is now closed. -End- The Central Bank of Ireland has entered into a Settlement Agreement on 7 March 2012 with Aviva Life & Pensions Ireland Limited, a regulated financial services provider, in relation to breaches of the Consumer Protection Code of 1 August 2006. Incomplete procedures, inadequate systems and controls and not employing effectively resources in the area of complaints handling can jeopardise the level of protection owed to consumers and accordingly undermines the special trust consumers place in financial service providers. The complaint handling provisions and, more generally, the Consumer Protection Code are underpinned by an important statutory objective of the Central Bank, that being consumer protection and the effective regulation of financial services providers. This important objective together with the requirement for adequate systems and controls are identified as target areas in the Enforcement Directorate’s Strategy Document published in 2010 and continue to be Enforcement priorities in 2012.