Supervision

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Central Bank of Ireland’s mission is to serve the public interest by maintaining monetary and financial stability while ensuring that the financial system operates in the best interests of consumers and the wider economy. The Central Bank is part of the European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS), the European Central Bank Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM).

Our Approach

Information on our supervisory approach is set out in “Our Approach to Supervision”.

Given the size and complexity of the financial sector, the Central Bank takes a risk-based, outcomes-focused approach to supervision. This allows us to deploy our finite resources in a manner which targets the areas that pose the greatest risks to our four safeguarding outcomes:

  • Protection of consumer and investor interests
  • Safety and soundness of firms
  • Financial stability
  • Integrity of the financial system

Our Supervisory Principles provide a common understanding of how we deliver on our safeguarding outcomes. They also enable the public and our other stakeholders to understand how, at a macro level, the Central Bank approaches supervision.

Supervisory Principles:

  • Judgement-led
  • Risk-based
  • Outcomes-focused
  • Forward-looking
  • Firms’ responsibilities

Who We Supervise

Under Our Supervisory Framework, we consider the financial system to be three overarching industry categories of related products and services. Each category contains a number of sectors, which cover all supervised entities.

1. Banking & Payments

  • Payment and electronic money institutions
  • Retail credit
  • Credit unions
  • Domestic and international banks

2. Insurance

  • Domestic life insurance
  • Domestic non-life insurance
  • Reinsurance
  • International insurance

3. Capital Markets & Funds

  • Funds and fund service providers
  • MiFID investment firms
  • Retail intermediaries
  • Markets

Our Supervisory Activities

We deliver supervision through a broad range of supervisory actions and interventions, which prevent or mitigate risks posed to our safeguarding outcomes. These actions and interventions range from awareness and expectation-setting activities, to programmatic supervision with individual firms and sectors, escalating to policy and/or enforcement and resolution actions.

The following topics contain more information on some of our supervisory activities.

Consumer Protection Issues

The Central Bank has a statutory role in relation to consumer protection.

We have introduced a number of codes of conduct to give added protections to consumers when dealing with financial services providers.

Read more about our approach to Consumer Protection.  

Fitness and Probity Requirements

A Fitness and Probity Regime was introduced on 1 December 2011 and was fully implemented on 1 December 2012.

Find out more about Fitness and Probity for Regulated Firms.

The Individual Accountability Framework (IAF)

The Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Act 2023 was published and commenced in 2023.

The IAF includes the following four pillars:

  • Senior Executive Accountability Regime (SEAR)
  • Conduct Standards
  • Enhancements to the current Fitness & Probity (F&P) Regime and
  • Enhancements to the Administrative Sanctions Procedure (ASP)

Read more about the Individual Accountability Framework.

Cross-border supervision

Under the European Union (EU) passporting rules, as set out in a number of Directives, a financial service provider authorised in one EU Member State can establish as a branch in another Member State and/or provide services in another Member State without establishing a physical presence there.

When a financial service provider authorised in Ireland by the Central Bank (home state regulator) is operating under a passporting arrangement in another EU member state (host state regulator) the Central Bank, as home state regulator, is responsible for the prudential supervision of that entity.

Find out more about Passporting for Credit Institutions. 

Impact Ratings

The paper, "PRISM Impact Review – Revised Prudential Impact Models", provides a high-level overview of the PRISM Impact Review.

The paper contains information about the revisions to the prudential impact models, including their metrics, in the Asset Management, Market Infrastructure, Payments e-Money, Fund Service Providers, Insurance and Credit Union sectors.

Whilst the prudential impact ratings are no the longer primary driver for the intensity of supervision, they remain a relevant input for supervision and certain Central Bank Regulations, Requirements and Guidance, for certain sectors.  

PRISM

Central Bank of Ireland introduced risk-based supervision (PRISM) in 2011, as part of our response to the lessons of the financial crisis. Since that time, both our regulatory responsibilities, and the sectors we supervise, have changed significantly. This is particularly true in recent years, given the rapid change the financial sector has undergone, to become bigger, more complex, more interconnected and more digital.  Innovation, digitalisation, and an increasingly interconnected risk landscape, are reshaping the risk environment of the sectors we supervise and the consumers we work to protect.

We recognised this in our strategy, and responded through the development of a new supervisory approach, which was implemented in January 2025.

You can access retained information on PRISM for reference purposes.