IFSRA statement: The following is the full text of the statement from the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) regarding AIB's foreign exchange charges:

"The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority received an anonymous telephone call two weeks ago making certain allegations relating to foreign exchange charges within AIB.

The Financial Services Regulator raised the issue at a meeting with AIB last week and sought a full report from the bank on the matter. We are continuing to actively pursue the matter with AIB at a senior level.

We view these matters very seriously and have requested AIB to immediately report on:

the extent of the impact on its customers;

to examine how compensation can be appropriately paid;

to identify how the matters could have arisen and persisted over an extended period of time;

to identify remedial measures to ensure that such matters could not arise again.

Our initial investigations are concentrating on amounts charged by AIB to its foreign exchange customers that were over and above the relevant charge notified to the Office of the Director for Consumer Affairs in 1996.

Responsibility for the approval of notifications related to bank charges transferred from the Office of the Director for Consumer Affairs to the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority on 1 May 2003."