| Recruitment for IFSRA ceo to start within month |
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| The Government has made the long awaited decision on Financial Services regulation which will see the Central Bank transformed to be the Central Bank of Ireland and Financial Services Authority. |
The Government is to begin the process of recruiting a chief executive officer for the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) ahead of ratifying the legislation to put it in place.
Recruitment advertising for the top jobs of IFSRA chief executive and consumer protection director is expected to start by April. This will be ahead of the publication of the first Bill to set up the new structures.
The Interim Board of IFSRA will appoint a secretariat to oversee recruitment and the Government is eager to attract applications from a wide range of experienced individuals both from Ireland and from overseas. It is hoped that these positions could be filled by the end of the summer.
As the budget for the new IFSRA authority has yet to be decided, the salary on offer for this high profile position is currently speculative. However there are strong indications from the Government that a salary appropriate to attractive a suitably high-calibre candidate will be approved. The salary scale is likely to be similar to that set up for the National Treasury Management Agency.
In announcing the new structure the Tan?iste Mary Harney said both the chief executive and the customer protection director would have to have flair for development, be advocates and champions for the public interest, accessible and clear communicators and will also be able to inspire and lead an organisation of professional public servants.
Harney said ‘I would encourage people who would relish the challenge to apply, people from both public and private sectors, at home and abroad.’
The importance of having a strong person at the helm of this fledgling body has been emphasised by the industry who feel that until it finds its feet a strong, developmental and proactive approach will need to be fostered by the new body.
The new structure for financial regulation marks the most radical shakeup ever for Ireland. The Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment and the Department of Finance reached a compromise on the establishment of a single regulatory authority. The compromise sees all financial regulation, both prudential and monetary, being brought together under an overall body called the Central Bank of Ireland and Financial Services Authority Board.
This overall body will encompass two pillars: the Irish Monetary Authority and the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
The function of the Irish Monetary Authority will be to brief the Governor as a member of the Governing Council of the ECB, to manage the currency, to manage the reserves and to implement ECB monetary policy.
The function of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority will include the licensing and prudential regulation of all financial services providers, as well as its consumer protection role.
The Government envisages that IFSRA will be a one-stop shop for the industry in relation to licensing, supervision, regulation and industry standards. It will promote the interests of the consumer as well.
The reorganised Central Bank structure also sees the introduction of an ancilliary consumer ombudsman structure which will arbitrate between financial services providers and the consumers themselves.
The new structure has been presented as an independent regulatory body lying within a transformed Central Bank. |
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| Article appeared in the February 2001 issue.
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