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Global Trustee and Fiduciary Services News and Views
| Issue 47 | 2017
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attract staff with experience of working in the UK
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
10
In a speech delivered in October 2016, Gerry
Cross, the director of Policy and Risk at the
Central Bank, acknowledges some of the
challenges for Ireland and the Central Bank
when speaking about the implications of
Brexit for the Central Bank’s regulatory and
supervisory mandate.
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Cross notes the potential
for a material increase in the number of
applications for authorisation in Ireland due to
the possible loss of passporting rights of UK-
authorised entities.
As part of his update, Cross also confirms
that the Central Bank will not offer fast-track
authorisation to a firm already licensed by the
UK authorities, noting that “to carry out our
ongoing oversight effectively, it is important to
have carried out a good quality authorisation
process so that we have an understanding of
the business and the risks and how they are
managed”. He also notes that the Central Bank
will need to be satisfied that it is authorising a
business or line of business that will be run from
Ireland and which it can effectively supervise.
Any outsourcing by the relevant firm should be in
accordance with practice that has been allowed
by the Central Bank to date, and in agreement
with international practices and standards.
Importantly, however, Cross goes on to note
that an entity that has been authorised and is
currently supervised in the UK should be “in a
good position to understand what is expected
in processes such as these and should be in a
position to quickly get a complete application
together”. He also confirms that the Central Bank
is open to meeting and engaging with firms in
advance of a completed application, which can
be particularly helpful in more complex cases. In
terms of capacity, he confirms that the Central
Bank is committed to being in a position to
discharge the work in processing what could be a
large influx of applications within a short period
of time and to carry out the related oversight
activities that will be required. In this regard, he
notes that workforce planning for 2017, which is
currently being finalised, reflects the additional
resources required to deal with applications that
may be made to the Central Bank and that the
Central Bank will staff-up as necessary.
Cross expressed similar thoughts and sentiments
in a more recent article on “Responding to
the post-Brexit environment”.
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In that article,
Cross acknowledges that a key component of
a successful and attractive jurisdiction for the
location of financial services activities is a strong
and independent regulator, with international
credibility and that delivering this is by far the
most valuable contribution the Central Bank can
make to the attractiveness of the jurisdiction as
a location for financial services firms.
The Central Bank has indicated that firms seeking
authorisation in Ireland will find the Central Bank
to be “engaged, efficient, open and rigorous”.
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We believe that these comments, added to those
in Cross’s speech referred to above, reflect the
clear intent of the Central Bank to engage with
the increasing workload that may flow from
Brexit (whatever form it takes) and to incorporate
such changes into the Central Bank’s strategic
planning. In this regard, we believe that there
is an opportunity for industry here in Ireland to
assist the Central Bank in achieving this aim. For
example, one practical step would be for industry
to assist the authorisation process by clearly
and comprehensively mapping the approval and
supervision process applied by the FCA against
equivalent Central Bank requirements. If this is