Clearance of Funds
The Conveyancing and Business Law Committees would like to draw your attention to the news item ‘Taking Advantage of EFT’ at page 7 of the April 2013 Gazette and would urge practitioners to contact their banks if they are experiencing delays in the clearance of funds that are longer than is provided for by law. Solicitors should also contact their banks to find out the relevant ‘shut-off’ times for sending payments, etc, as suggested in the news item.
If solicitors find that their banks are not complying with the time limits provided for in the European Communities (Payment Services) Regulations 2009 (SI No 383 of 2009), they should let the committees know.
The value clearing cycle for bank drafts is usually similar to that for cheques. While bank drafts enjoy a certainty of fate (that is, they will not be returned unpaid unless they have been counterfeited, fraudulently altered, or stolen), they also require clearance through the value clearing cycle.
Cheques drawn outside the Republic of Ireland but lodged in the country may take considerably longer to clear and may be returned unpaid in accordance with the legislation and/or clearing rules of the country in which the cheque is drawn.