Law Society fights back against negative interest rates on client accounts

The organisation has claimed plans by Bank of Ireland and AIB will place an ‘enormous burden’ on solicitors

Under the banks’ plans, deposit accounts containing €3 million or more would be subject to negative interest rates. Picture: Rollingnews.ie

The Law Society is in dispute with Bank of Ireland and AIB over the banks’ plans to introduce negative interest rates on solicitors’ accounts holding client money.

Charges on client accounts will cause regulatory breaches or force solicitors to pay clients interest from their own pockets, according to the Law Society.

The solicitors representative body has formed a task force to fight the introduction of the negative rates, which it claims will “severely complicate and ...