The spotlight has fallen on three former RSA Insurance Ireland staff after they were slapped with a collective £182,000 fine.
The fine was issued by the UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) which stated that Rory O’Connor, the company’s former chief financial officer “fell significantly short” because he approved “materially inaccurate financial statements” over a three-year period to 2012.
According to a report in The Irish Times, news of the scandal emerged in November 2013 with O’Connor initially suspended and then fired two months later. He was also excluded from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants for a three year period.
O’Connor was initially fined £50,000 but this was reduced to £35,000 following a settlement – although he still faced an additional £18,000 in legal costs.
The second person hit by a penalty is the company’s former chief actuary Martin Ryan who admitted he breached “core principles of competence and care and compliance” by signing an inaccurate statement of actuarial opinion. He has been hit with a fine of £101,500 and £11,000 in legal costs, as well as a host of professional limitations.
Finally, former RSA Insurance Ireland actuary Gerard Bradley was also charged – he faces a £70,000 fine and £3,500 in costs after failing to “provide sufficient challenge regarding the operation of an inappropriate claims reserving practice” in the insurance firm.
The fines come on the back of a troubled period for the Dublin arm of the UK-based insurer. From 2013-2015 it injected 423 million euros into the business when a large hole in its business sheet was revealed; while in March last year it made a further €90 million available as Solvency II came into effect.
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