Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 January 2013
267. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance if a High Court judgment against a person would disqualify that person from serving on a board of a credit union under the new fitness and probity regime. [4214/13]
View answerThe statutory basis for the Fitness and Probity regime is the Central Bank Reform Act 2010. The provisions were commenced for credit unions on 24 September 2012 and require Central Bank regulations and a code of practice to be in place before being fully implemented. The Central Bank has informed me that the Fitness and Probity regime for credit unions is undergoing consultation and is set out in Consultation Paper No. 62 which is available on the Central Bank's website at www.centralbank.ie/regulation/poldocs/consultation-papers/documents/cp62%20fitness%20and%20probity%20regime%20for%20credit%20unions/cp%2062-%20fitness%20and%20probity%20regime%20for%20credit%20unions.pdf. The final date for submissions on this consultation is 1 March 2013. It is proposed that the Fitness and Probity regime for credit unions will commence from 1 July 2013, with phasing and transitional arrangements applying to the implementation of the regime. In applying a Fitness and Probity regime to credit unions, the Central Bank’s aim is to improve governance standards at board and management level within the credit union sector by ensuring that individuals who exercise significant influence and control in a credit union are capable, competent and financially sound individuals with the appropriate skills, experience, knowledge and integrity to manage and govern the credit union for the benefit of all stakeholders.
The Central Bank has issued non-statutory guidelines in relation to the current fitness and probity regime for regulated financial service providers. These guidelines set out the approach to be taken where the holder of a controlled function (CF) has been declared bankrupt or is subject to a judgment debt. Such a person must be in a position to demonstrate that his or her ability to perform the CF is not adversely affected to a material degree by that matter. A regulated financial service provider must assess whether an issue is material to a particular CF or pre-approval controlled function. The Central Bank has set out a number of matters which should be considered in such an assessment, including the seriousness of the matter and its relevance to the duties to be performed. It is anticipated by the Central Bank that the guidance provided to credit unions on implementation of the Fitness and Probity regime for credit unions will be consistent with the approach in the existing Fitness and Probity regime.
