‘The overall Irish corporate and regulatory environment is becoming more onerous than any other jurisdiction with which I am familiar,’ William Slattery, chairman of industry association Financial Services Ireland (FSI), and chief executive of State Street International, told attendees at the recent annual dinner held on September 23rd in Dublin, adding that in the area of regulation, Ireland’s approach should be ‘pragmatic and nearer to Paris or Berlin than Boston or Washington’.

There should not be a second Financial Services Action Plan, says the Irish Bankers Federation (IBF). Rather all remaining measures required under the FSAP should be adopted and any new initiatives which the Commission has currently in train should also be completed. Thereafter, the focus should be on consistent implementation of the measures enacted, ENDA TWOMEY writes.

The deadline for comments on the European Commission’s Expert Groups’ reports on banking, insurance, securities and asset management came to a close on September 10th.

In a recent speech to attendees at a Northern Trust evening event, PAUL DOBBYN, partner with A&L Goodbody, [see right (L-R) Peter Jordan, MD, Northern Trust, Paul Dobbyn, Michael Boyce, Director of Client Operations, Northern Trust] said that legislation has become over invasive and ‘disproportionate to the menace which it is seeking to prevent or cure’. He argues that going forward Brussels will be the driving force of change, and not the Irish legislature, and that Brussels’ ‘one size fits all policy’ in relation to setting regulation will not suit Ireland’s international funds business. Pictured at the event are (L-R): Peter Jordan, MD, Northern Trust, Paul Dobbyn, Partner, A & L Goodbody, Michael Boyce, Director of Client Operations, Northern Trust

With several new EU Directives, combined with international accounting standards, coming into force, Dublin’s investment funds community needs to invest time and money into ensuring they comply with these regulations.

The industry/Government partnership approach to regulation, which has long been one of the key success factors of international financial services in Ireland, is to further develop under the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA), the Authority’s new chief executive, Dr. Liam O’Reilly says in an interview published in this issue.

In this first interview since being appointed chief executive of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA), Dr. Liam O’Reilly sets out his vision for the operation of the new regulator and says that the biggest threat to the future of international financial services in Ireland is complacency.

Nine of Europe’s financial services industry associations have petitioned internal market commissioner Frits Bolkestein, requesting the commencement of a formal and in-depth consultation process on the future framework for financial supervision and regulation in the EU.

A report commissioned by the Irish Bankers’ Federation and the Irish Mortgage and Savings Association on how the new single regulator should operate, sets out a number of recommendations that the new regulator should follow, and says that a clear distinction must be made between IFSC and retail banking.

In his first interview since being appointed chairman of the interim board of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA), Brian Patterson says that it will be very much business as usual when the new regulator takes over from the Central Bank and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment early next year. He spoke to Fiona Reddan about his new job.