Bank of America shifts €7.7bn from Ireland to UK arm

Bank of America’s Irish unit shifted $8.7bn (€7.65bn) of capital to its UK parent last year as it continued to shrink Irish operations and move assets to London.

Merrill Lynch International Holdings, in Dublin, paid a $4.1bn dividend and repaid $4.6bn of subordinated debt to its London-based parent in 2014, according to a filing with the Irish Companies Registration Office, dated May 8. The Irish unit’s total assets tumbled 94% to $22.6bn at the end of 2014.

Bank of America chief executive, Brian T Moynihan began shifting assets in Ireland to the UK in 2013 as part of a move to simplify the company’s structure. The Irish unit had more than $406bn of assets in 2013, mostly in derivatives contracts, and lost its position as Ireland’s largest lender by assets last year after the transfers.