Ireland Safe Deposit Box Bank and Payment Accounts Register (ISBAR)

The register identifies the holders and beneficial owners of bank and payment accounts and safe-deposit boxes in Ireland, for the purpose of establishing links between suspicious transactions and underlying criminal activity. The register, operated by the Central Bank of Ireland, assists competent authorities seeking to prevent and combat Money Laundering (ML) and Terrorist Financing (TF). The register ensures that flows of money can be properly traced to individuals, entities and illicit networks at an early stage. 

Information Contained on the Register

For the purpose of bank or payment accounts the following information will be reported to the register:

• IBAN
• Account name
• Date of account opening
• Date of account closure (as applicable)

Account holder (natural person) (or person acting on behalf of account holder)

Forename, surname, date of birth, address

Account holder (not a natural person) (or person acting on behalf of account holder)

Name and registered address

Beneficial owner (natural person)

Forename, surname, date of birth, address

For the purpose of safe deposit boxes the following information will be reported to the register:

Lessee (natural person)

Forename and surname of the lessee, date of birth of the lessee, address of the lessee and lease period 

Lessee (not a natural person)

Name of the lessee, registered address of the lessee and lease period

No account balance information will be contained in the register.

Guidance

Technical Guidance Documents

• ISBAR Return Completion Guidance
• File, Schema and Record Validation Guidance

Where a credit institution does not provide Irish IBANs nor offer a safe deposit box service, there is no requirement to provide information in this regard. Any such credit institution that does not issue Irish IBANS nor offer safe deposit box services to customers  contrary to  the requirement to submit information to the Central Bank pursuant to the European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Central Mechanism for Information on Safe-Deposit Boxes and Bank and Payment Accounts) Regulations 2022 [S.I. 46 of 2022] should notify the Central Bank via the below attestation forms and returning to [email protected].

• IBAN Attestation Form
• Safe Deposit Box Attestation Form

All Credit Institutions who have ISBAR records which require substitute data must download the form below and return it to [email protected]. This includes all:

• Exempt records (i.e. beneficial owner details of entities listed on a regulated market);
• Records with missing mandatory data;
• Records not compatible with ISBAR Schema (e.g. character not defined in Schema)

Substitute Data Confirmation Form

Reporting Templates

Included in the reporting instructions below are:

• XSD Schema Bank Account Return
• XSD Schema Safe Deposit Box Return
• Sample Bank Account Return Template
• Sample Bank Account Return (XML)
• Sample Safety Deposit Return Template
• Sample SDB Return (XML)

Information Resources

Data Protection

The Central Bank has completed a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) in relation to the implementation of ISBAR.

Read the Central Bank of Ireland’s Data Privacy Statement.

Read the Executive Summary DPIA.  

FAQ

Ireland Safe Deposit Bank and Payments Accounts Register – Frequently Asked Questions

Key Dates

• Publication of S.I. 46 of 2022 03 February 2022
• Publication of S.I. 445 of 2022 13 September 2022
• Publication of S.I. 704 of 2022 20 December 2022
• Publication of S.I. 22 of 2023 02 February 2023
• 23 February 2023 – ISBAR obligations formally communicated to credit institutions
• From 27 February 2023, the Central Bank will commence a phased collection of ISBAR information from in-scope credit institutions
• From 19 May 2023, the Central Bank commenced a phased onboarding of competent authorities to ISBAR

Contact 

For more information please contact: [email protected]