KBC indicated yesterday that it will not challenge complaints made to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman connected with tracker mortgage issues outside the 6-year statutory time limit.

The Sunday Business Post suggests that AIB, BOI, Ulster Bank and PTSB all confirmed they wouldn’t contest complaints made outside the time limit. The Ombudsman has indicated that it is dealing with 1,141 complaints of which 103 were outside the statutory time limit.

Elsewhere, the Irish Times reports that Payzone, in which AIB has a 75% stake, has reported pretax profits of €6.3m, up 10% yoy. Payzone is a consumer payments network and recorded broadly flat revenue at €150.5m. AIB took the stake earlier this year in a joint venture with First Data Corporation.

According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, "The move by the banks to not time limit complaints to the ombudsman might extend the timeline of potential newsflow on the tracker scandal but shows a practicality in fully engaging with the process. The main Central Bank tracker investigation is moving from the redress stage into the enforcement stage, with the banks potentially liable for large enforcement fines. PTSB was the first bank to be slapped with a fine in H1, with AIB providing for a potential fine in its H1 results, whilst BOI had already provided for one previously."

Source: www.businessworld.ie