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Central Bank of Ireland Investigations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 January 2018

Tuesday, 30 January 2018

Ceisteanna (92)

Catherine Connolly

Ceist:

92. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Finance the number of regularity breaches or potential breaches reported to the Central Bank by lenders in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4296/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Central Bank of Ireland regulates more than 10,000 firms providing financial services in Ireland and overseas.

This regulation is undertaken through risk-based supervision, underpinned by a credible threat of enforcement with the objective of ensuring financial stability, consumer protection and market integrity. The types of firms regulated include Brokers/Retail Intermediaries, Bureaux de Change, Credit Institutions, Credit Servicing Firms, Credit Unions, Debt Management Firms, Electronic Money Institutions, Funds, Funds Service Providers, Insurance & Reinsurance, Investment Firms, Moneylenders, Money Transmission Businesses, Payment Institutions, Retail Credit & Home Reversion Firms, and Securities Markets.

Because these diverse sectors are legislated for differently, some under domestic law and some under EU law, the reporting requirements of these sectors are equally diverse. Furthermore, the Bank may be notified of a potential breach which then does not materialise into being, or discover a breach through a means other than a report from a lender. For this reason, and due to its confidentiality requirements, the Central Bank does not publish details of the number of breaches or suspected/potential breaches.

However, the Central Bank publishes the outcomes of its enforcement actions, some of which were triggered by information provided by firms and individuals self-reporting regulatory breaches and other as a result of the Central Bank’s intrusive regulatory approach.

The Central Bank has reached 115 settlements with firms since 2006 under its Administrative Sanctions Procedure, bringing total fines imposed by the Central Bank to over €61 million.

In the event of issues or risks being identified or reported with respect to compliance, the Central Bank of Ireland, including as part of the European Single Supervisory Mechanism, has a suite of tools with which to drive remediation. These tools include the issuing of formal risk mitigation programmes requiring credit institutions to undertake remediation action by a set date; issuing direction orders; consideration of action pursuant to the Fitness and Probity regime and/or undertaking Administrative Sanctions Procedures if a potentially serious breach is identified and/or remediation is not undertaken in an appropriate timeframe.

Question No. 93 answered with Question No. 82.
Question No. 94 answered with Question No. 84.
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