Among the headline changes introduced by the Central Bank
(Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (the "2013
Act") is the increase in the maximum fines which can
be imposed by the Central Bank of Ireland in the administrative
sanctions procedure. For corporates, maximum fines have increased
from €5 million to €10 million or 10% of the previous
year's turnover. For individuals the maximum fine has increased
from €500,000 to €1 million.
Significantly, the 2013 Act now empowers the CBI to require
regulated entities to produce a 'skilled person' report to
be prepared by a lawyer, accountant or other expert, whose
appointment is subject to CBI approval. While the regulated entity
must bear the costs of the preparation of the report, the CBI can
prescribe the issues that it must address. The CBI's new power
to compel the production of a skilled person report is similar to
the power available to the Prudential Regulation Authority and the
Financial Conduct Authority in the UK under section 166 of the
Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended). The power is
widely used in the UK with 113 skilled person reports having being
commissioned by the UK regulator during the year ended 31 March
2013.
The 2013 Act also gives new powers to the Financial Services
Ombudsman (the "FSO") to "name and
shame" regulated financial service providers against which at
least three adverse findings have been made in the previous
financial year. The
FSO exercised this power for the first time in his 2013
bi-annual report published on 26 February 2014.
Further detail on the 2013 Act is set out in Matheson's
Regulatory Risk Management and Compliance Group
client briefing issued in August 2013.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
