Factsheets

In May 2022 the European Commission issued a public consultation to gather evidence for its review of the second EU Payment Services Directive (2015/2366), and to inform its continuing work on open finance. The consultation forms part of the Digital Finance Strategy and the Retail Payments Strategy which aims to conduct a comprehensive review of the application and impact of PSD2 to assess whether legislation remains fit for purpose.

The Irish Government has introduced the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (“TBESS”) to provide support to businesses with their energy costs. This scheme, will be administered by the Irish Revenue, and intends to alleviate the pressures faced by businesses that are experiencing unprecedented increases in their electricity and gas costs.

This article is a continuation of a series from Grant Thornton Financial Services Advisory that focuses on key aspects of the Individual Accountability Framework (“IAF”). In this article, we discuss the recently released Regulatory Impact Analysis (“RIA”) conducted by the Department of Finance (the “Department”) on the IAF.

Final guidelines on common procedures and methodologies for the supervisory review and evaluation process for investment firms, along with final draft Regulatory Technical Standards on Pillar 2 add-ons for investment firms are published.

The Central Bank of Ireland has announced that the countercyclical capital buffer (CCyB) rate on Irish exposures is to be maintained at 0.5 per cent.

The introduction of the Consumer Protection Act highlights the Central Bank’s continued focus on consumer protection, with the specific purpose of closing the consumer protection gap in respect of consumer-hire agreements, hire-purchase agreements, including personal contracts plans (PCPs), and other forms of indirect credit such as Buy Now, Pay Later.

In December 2021, the European Commission (EC) published its proposal for Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive III (ATAD III) which aims to discourage the misuse of shell companies within the EU.

This correspondence, deemed a Level 1 Compliance Intervention, offers all eligible taxpayers the opportunity to self-review their tax returns for Period 1 (which ended on 31 December 2021 or 30 April 2022 where extension applied) and make an unprompted qualifying disclosure by 31 January 2023 in relation to any additional tax liabilities identified.

The European Commission recently published a proposal for a new EU Directive creating a debt-equity bias reduction allowance (‘DEBRA’) and further limitation of the deductibility of interest for corporate tax purposes. This initiative is part of the “EU strategy on business taxation”.

Under the fitness and probity (‘F&P’) regime the Central Bank of Ireland (the ‘Central Bank’) assesses the suitability (the fitness and probity) of individuals put forward for a number of senior roles in regulated firms (referred to as pre-approval controlled functions or ‘PCFs’).

In recent years, there has been a global movement towards increased tax transparency, particularly following a number of high profile financial crises and scandals. Coupled with the growth in the digital economy as well as crypto-assets and e-money in particular, the European Union (EU) has proposed a new Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC) known as “DAC8”.

Significant changes to the dynamic of the financial services sector in recent years have shifted the paradigms in how we work. The increased digitisation of the workforce, changes in business models, globalisation, and remote working capabilities have led to a new approach to the delivery of services.

The Central Bank of Ireland (‘CBI’) has recently issued its latest Anti-Money Laundering Bulletin, focussing on the Virtual Asset Service Provider (‘VASP’) sector. In this bulletin, the CBI has provided its observations on a number of significant and widespread deficiencies across authorisation applications received from VASPs where roughly 90% of all applications are not meeting the required standard.

In line with the EU’s ‘Financing Sustainable Growth’ Action Plan 2018, the European Commission adopted a number of delegated acts which will impact (re)insurance undertakings and insurance distributors. These changes will apply from 2 August 2022.

The Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021 (the “Act”) has now been commenced. The orders for the commencement of the Act and the establishment of the Corporate Enforcement Authority were signed by the Tánaiste on 5 and 6 July 2022 respectively. The Act was previously passed by the Oireachtas and signed into law by the President on 22 December 2021.

This is the first article from Grant Thornton in our series on the Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank)’s recovery plan Requirements. This introductory article provides an overview of the key requirements of the legislation, the timelines involved and main topics included in your recovery plan.