LEGAL actions against Bank of Ireland's mortgage subsidiary in Britain involve claims totalling about £50 million, according to registration documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bank of Ireland shares were floated on the US market last week.

However, because the two claims - each for £24 million plus interest will be considered together, the maximum exposure for the bank is about £24 million plus interest. The bank is "strenuously defending" the actions.

As reported in The Irish Times in May, Bank of Ireland is facing two legal actions taken by the receiver and finding banks of The Housing Corporation against Bank of Ireland Mortgage Services which assessed some customers for The Housing Corporation.

The Housing Corporation was a small niche lender in the British mortgage market in the 1980s. It went into receivership in 1993.

In its 1996 annual report, Bank of Ireland stated: "The potential liabilities are not likely to have a significant effect on the financial position of the group".

The Housing Corporation receiver, KPMG, and its bankers, led by NM Rothschild, lodged the claims against the Bank of Ireland subsidiary.

No date has been set for the actions to come before the British courts.