![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/9dc344c5-9556-41e6-ad43-f61b8198f0a2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Central Bank of Ireland says banks need to ensure designated entities are blocked\n<\/p>\n
The Central Bank of Ireland said it is aware of specific instances of card transactions involving US cards issued by a Belarusian bank, Belgazprombank, which has been sanctioned by the EU since early this year.<\/p>\n
That bank was sanctioned for using the Central Bank of Russia\u2019s financial messaging system to circumvent EU sanctions.<\/p>\n
A wave of sanctions have been imposed on Russian and other banks following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a risk that there may be other designated entities who are subject to EU restrictive measures which have issued products that need to be blocked by Irish banks, PSPs, ATM operators and merchant services,\u201d the Central Bank of Ireland warned in its first financial crime bulletin.<\/p>\n
\u201cFailure to do so poses a heightened risk of breaching EU sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Belgazprombank office in Gomel, Belarus. Stock image. Photo: Getty<\/p>\n
News in 90 Seconds – 12\u00a0December 2025 <\/p>\n
The Central Bank said ATM transactions are often facilitated through international card schemes which use Bank Identification Numbers (BINs) to identify the card-issuing bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the global nature of these schemes, cards issued by banks or entities subject to EU financial sanctions may still be used at EU ATMs unless those BINs are specifically blocked,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The bank said it is important that Irish banks, ATM operators, payment service providers and merchants services be aware that card schemes apply their own compliance control, but that those controls may not always reflect the full scope of EU sanctions.<\/p>\n
For example, it said US card schemes might only reflect US Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations and not always EU regulations.<\/p>\n
The Central Bank bulletin also warns that fraud and scams continue to grow through digitalisation and ever-increasing online activity.<\/p>\n
Cyber attacks can have catastrophic consequences<\/p>\n
Michael Kavanagh, the chief executive of the Compliance Institute, said that cyber crime is developing and advancing at such a pace \u201cthat organisations and legislators cannot keep up\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cCyber attacks can have catastrophic consequences, not just for those whom they are perpetrated against but for the wider public,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe growing sophistication of fraudsters means scams have become harder to spot, and therefore easier to fall for.<\/p>\n
\u201cFraudsters are also able to use technology to identify and target people, as well as to extract the information they need to steal from someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The HSE said this week that it is offering \u20ac750 each in compensation to people affected by the 2021 ransomware attack on its computer system. As many as 90,000 people were impacted when criminals breached the system and stole personal details.<\/p>\n
The attack cost the HSE more than \u20ac100m, while settlements with those affected \u2013 which could include the payment of legal fees \u2013 could potentially double the cost.<\/p>\n
The Central Bank said that frauds and scams are \u201crecognised as a major issue for consumers, businesses and society\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a priority for the Central Bank that measures are taken to prevent fraud and scams occurring through the financial system,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Central Bank of Ireland says banks need to ensure designated entities are blocked The Central Bank of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,20927,61,60,10099,3589],"class_list":{"0":"post-188507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-central-bank-of-ireland","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-john-mulligan","13":"tag-russia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}