McSharry & Foley Limited

the Central Bank has taken the following into account:  the firm acted promptly to rectify the issues once discovered, including appointing an independent third party auditor to identify the level and amount of overcharging involved and number of affected customers;  the firm has made prompt refunds with appropriate interest to all affected customers;  the co-operation of the firm during the investigation and in settling at an early stage in the administrative sanctions procedure; and  the financial position of the firm. The Central Bank confirms that the matter is now closed. - End - The Central Bank of Ireland has entered into a Settlement Agreement on 24 October 2011 with McSharry & Foley (Sligo) Limited, a regulated financial services provider, in relation to breaches of the Consumer Protection Code and the Handbook for Authorised Advisors. We have said previously, and we highlighted in our Enforcement Strategy, that issues relating to the overcharging of customers and the causes of overcharging are priority areas for the Central Bank. The Central Bank’s supervisory framework, of which the Enforcement Strategy is a key component, is squarely focused on the Central Bank being more assertive and prioritising the allocation of resources on a risk based approach.