Financial Services Regulation and Compliance - General Cross Sectoral February 2023

Domestic

Dear CEO Letter on the CBI’s key regulation and supervision priorities for 2023

On 16 February 2023, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) published a 'Dear CEO' letter addressing the CBI's key regulation and supervision priorities for 2023 as follows:

  •  authorisations
  •  financial and operational resilience
  •  systemic risks generated by non-banks 
  •  consolidation of the Irish banking sector

The CBI has named the following regulatory developments as priorities for 2023:

  • Consulting and engaging on regulatory developments under the Consumer Protection Framework and the Individual Accountability Framework leading to enhancements in existing and new regulations.
  • Implementing changes to credit union regulations/ guidance arising from the Department of Finance-led policy framework review, including through engaging with sectoral stakeholders.
  • Ensuring that the EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Action Plan, including the establishment of a single supervisory authority (the Anti-Money Laundering Authority), results in a consistent and robust EU-wide framework.
  • Contributing to progressing European regulation, particularly the review of the Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and the functioning of open banking.
  • Implementing new EU regulations on digital operational resilience (DORA) and markets in crypto assets (MiCA).

Consumer Protection Act 2007 (Competition and Consumer Protection Commission) Levy Regulations 2023 [S.I. No. 48 of 2023]

The Consumer Protection Act 2007 (Competition and Consumer Protection Commission) Levy Regulations 2023 amend the Consumer Protection Act 2007 (National Consumer Agency) Levy Regulations 2011 in relation to the CCPC levy. The schedule provides the revised levy scheme for financial service providers for the year 2023.

Beneficial Ownership Register FAQ updated

On 3 February 2023, the CBI updated its Beneficial Ownership Register FAQs following a ruling by the European Court of Justice regarding public access to beneficial ownership registers [ECJ No.188 of 2022], access requests by members of the public will not be processed, pending clarification of the legislative position by the law making body.  Access requests can be made by completing a BOR 4 Form and submitting to BOR@centralbank.ie. Independent evidence of active designated person status must also be provided with the completed form, following which the request will be processed. 

European

ECB publishes opinion on a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulations (EU) No 260/2012 and (EU) 2021/1230 as regards instant credit transfers in euro

On 1 February 2023, the ECB published its opinion on the European Commission's proposal to make instant payments in euro available to all citizens and businesses holding a bank account in the EU and in EEA countries. The proposal aims to ensure that instant payments in euro are affordable, secure, and processed without hindrance across the EU.

The ECB strongly welcomes the initiative of the European Commission's proposal to promote the provision of instant payments and also ties in with the Eurosystem's retail payments strategy. The ECB noted a number of specific observations in its opinion including the amendment of certain defined terms to align with terms used in Directive (EU) 2015/2366 (PSD2) and the screening of instant payments for European Union sanctions.

The ECB has also set out specific drafting proposals in a separate technical working document.

For more information on these topics please contact any member of A&L Goodbody's Financial Regulation team.

Date published: 20 March 2023