The Irish government has selected the London branch of Bank of New York Mellon Corp. to manage an escrow account for up to €15 billion of back taxes from Apple Inc.
Ireland's Department of Finance said the government and Apple will work with BNY Mellon to finalize operational arrangements for the escrow over the coming weeks. It added that a separate search for the fund's investment managers is currently ongoing.
The National Treasury Management Agency is in charge of the two procurement processes.
In August 2016, the European Commission ruled that the tech giant's tax benefits in Ireland are illegal under EU state aid rules. It said the "selective treatment" allowed Apple to pay an effective tax rate of 1% on its European profits, paying substantially less than other businesses.
The commission ordered Ireland to recover up to €13 billion in unpaid taxes for the 2003-2014 period. Including interest, the total is expected to reach €15 billion.
Ireland has said it would start collecting the back taxes from Apple during the second quarter of 2018, Reuters reported. The government previously expected the process to begin in the first quarter.
Both Apple and the Irish government have appealed the EC's ruling.
