asked the Minister for Finance if he has any proposal to introduce a Financial Services Act, similar to the recent UK statute, to regulate and protect customers of the financial services industry he is seeking to attract to the Custom House Docks Centre, Dublin 1.
Written Answers. - Regulation of Financial Sector.
63.
I have no plans to introduce a Financial Services Act similar to the recent UK legislation to apply to the International Financial Services Centre. We have, however, made our own supervisory arrangements which will meet the situation.
The supervision of particular institutions in the IFSC will be the direct responsibility of the Central Bank or in the case of insurance companies, the Department of Industry and Commerce. The supervisory requirements being imposed on institutions will be up to relevant international standards.
Where it is considered necessary we envisage that the bank can oversee and approve the establishment of self-regulatory bodies for the centre. I will be making provision in the forthcoming Central Bank Bill to underpin the bank's role in this area.
64.
asked the Minister for Finance if he has established any standing interministerial arrangements, procedures and responses in relation to the possible collapse of a financial institution that might have ramifications for the rest of the economy; and if contingency plans for this eventuality are in place.
No formalised arrangements of the particular type described have been established. The responsibility for contingency planning rests primarily with the relevant financial supervisors.
The Government, however, is conscious of need for ongoing assessment and co-ordination of regulatory regimes in the financial area, and has already announced, for example, that the supervision of building societies and the trustee savings banks will become the responsibility of the Central Bank. My Department also is examining the general position on the regulation of the financial sector.
In addition to these initiatives, a number of meetings involving representatives of the various regulatory bodies have taken place under the aegis of my Department. The aim of this forum is to examine matters which affect financial supervision generally and to facilitate future exchanges of information and the co-ordination of positions on issues where more than one supervisor is involved.