Factsheets

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.

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’).

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.

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.

All regulated financial services providers (RFSPs) with a PRISM impact rating of medium-low or above should now be preparing to submit their first outsourcing register using a new online return. The first submission is due by 31 July 2022.

While there has been much discussion of sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) factors in relation to the banking sector in recent times, the reality is that much if not all regulatory instruments to date have focused on a subsection of ‘E’; climate change. Several factors have contributed to this including its actual and predicted impacts, political and social momentum, as well as a growing body of research that facilitates quantification of the associated risks

The Individual Accountability Framework regulation is intended to improve executive accountability within the Irish Financial Services sector by increasing the transparency between Regulated Financial Services Providers (RFSPs) and the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), particularly of where accountabilities lie in organisations. It follows in the footsteps of similar regimes successfully enacted in the UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

The proposed legislation follows on from the reforms proposed in the Central Bank’s report on Behaviour and Culture of the Irish Retail Banks published in 2018, which highlighted the shortcomings in the culture of Irish retail banks. The Central Bank has emphasised that there has been a focus both nationally and internationally since the global financial crisis on “strengthening corporate culture, driving positive behaviour and increasing individual accountability”.

European regulatory authorities have introduced new legislation, referred to as the Investment Firms Regulation EU 2019/2033 (‘IFR’) and Investment Firms Directive EU 2019/2034 (‘IFD’), which aims to establish a tailored prudential framework for investment firms.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) is implementing a new policy strategy regarding institutions’ Pillar 3 disclosures. The new Pillar 3 disclosures aims to promote transparency and enhance institutions’ management of Environmental, Social or Governance (ESG) risks. The EBA is encouraging institutions to foster an awareness of the important role ESG risks play in the transition to a greener economy.

Firms that are in scope of the AIFMD, UCITS and MiFID regimes need to become familiar with the changes that are applicable to their business activity and analyse how they will comply with the new obligations. Firms will need to review and update their existing business plan, systems and policies to incorporate the concept of sustainability into their daily operations.

European regulatory authorities have introduced new legislation, referred to as the Investment Firms Regulation EU 2019/2033 (‘IFR’) and Investment Firms Directive EU 2019/2034 (‘IFD’), which aims to establish a tailored prudential framework for investment firms. For most investment firms, they were required to comply with the Captial Requirements Regulation (CRR), which was originally designed for large and complex banks and trading institutions.

The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a revised Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems (NIS 2 Directive).

The Irish Investment Limited Partnership (ILP) structure is a regulated partnership structure that is authorised as either a Qualifying Investor Alternative Investment Fund (QIAIF) or Retail Investor Alternative Investment Fund (RIAIF) that will appeal to global investments managers and promoters in particular for Private Equity, Private Credit, Real Estate, sustainable finance and infrastructure assets.

The Investment Firms Regulation EU 2019/2033 (IFR) and Investment Firms Directive EU 2019/2034 (IFD) establishes a tailored prudential framework for investment firms. The new prudential regime applies to investment firms that not systemic by virtue of their size and interconnectedness within the wider financial system, i.e. primarily Class 2 type firms (see the classification criteria in our previous publication). Small and non‐interconnected investment firms may receive regulatory requirement exemption from the competent authorities.