Scotiabank, one of Canada’s largest financial institutions, has been fined €600,000 by Irelands financial regulator for providing inaccurate data about its ability to pay its debts.

The fine, one the largest ever imposed by the Central Bank of Ireland, relates to five accidental incidents of inaccurate liquidity data that took place between 2007 and 2010.

One incident lead to an overstatement of the bank’s liquid assets by $300 million, while another lead to an understatement of $106 million. In each case, Scotiabank voluntarily informed the regulator of the breach.

The Central Bank of Ireland said that the fine was levied in part because Scotiabank had failed "to have adequate controls and checks to verify the liquidity return process". It noted, however, that it had taken "extensive remedial steps … to rectify the contraventions".

Data reporting breaches can be expensive errors for banks. Last year, the UK’s Financial Services Authority fined Credit Suisse £1.6 million for failing to report trading data on time.