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Central Bank sets up dedicated role-approval unit

The Central Bank is to set up a dedicated unit to oversee the system under which it approves the appointment of individuals to key roles in regulated financial institutions. 

The move follows a review of the fitness-and-probity (F&P) framework undertaken by Andrea Enria, a former chair of the ECB Supervisory Board, earlier this year. 

The review was commissioned in February after a judgment published by the Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal (IFSAT) that identified several issues in how the Central Bank handled a case in which an individual’s application to a senior role was refused. 

One of the review’s findings was that the F&P process was fragmented, and it recommended the establishment of a single unit in charge of F&P gatekeeping. 

Reforms 

Central Bank of Ireland Gabriel Makhlouf said that Enria report had identified several key areas for improvement in how the regulator operated the F&P regime. 

“We accepted the findings of the report and have used them as a basis for implementing reforms to enhance the regime’s overall effectiveness. We also committed to implementing the reforms as early as possible and before end-2024,” he stated. 

He described today’s (19 December) announcement as “a key element” of its programme of reform of the system. 

“The new unit will be staffed from within our existing complement by experienced regulators from across the bank,” Makhlouf added. 

He said that the new unit would be in place “from the start of the new year”.