FILE PHOTO: A BNY Mellon sign is seen on their headquarters in New York's financial district, January 19, 2011. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland has chosen Bank of New York Mellon to administer an escrow fund of up to 15 billion euros ($18.6 billion) in disputed taxes that the European Commission ordered the government to collect from Apple.

The European Commission ruled in August 2016 that Apple had received unfair tax incentives from Ireland and last October said it was taking Dublin to the European Court of Justice over delays in recovering the money.

Both Apple and Dublin are appealing the original ruling, saying the iPhone maker’s tax treatment was in line with Irish and European Union law.

The Commission ordered Ireland to collect 13 billion euros in back taxes, a figure Ireland’s finance department estimated last year could reach 15 billion euros including EU interest.

The finance department said on Wednesday that it would finalize the operational arrangements for the escrow over the coming weeks and that a separate procurement process for investment managers was currently in progress.

Ireland has said it expects to start collecting the money from Apple during the second quarter of the year.