Ireland’s Elderfield: Consumer comes first

Matthew Elderfield, the head of financial regulation at the Central Bank & Financial Services Authority of Ireland, discussed some of the steps taken by the central bank to improve financial regulation and strengthen the banking sector following the financial crises in Ireland last year.

In a speech to the Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants in Dublin last Friday, Elderfield covered the central bank's plans to overhaul the regulatory model for financial services in Ireland, including that of consumer protection, and outlined their strategy to improve financial risk models in the future. "I intend to implement a framework of assertive risk-based regulation underpinned by the credible threat of enforcement," he said.

Elderfield called for a risk-based approach to regulation that will calibrate the intensity of our regulatory standards and day-to-day supervisory approach depending on the risk profile of the firms and sectors. "A risk based model means that we will not have a one size fits all approach," he said.

Elderfield also described some of the changes in regulatory reform that will take place explaining that financial authorities will be required to take a more systematic approach in assessing the different types of risk in the system but to deal with them immediately. "Our risk based approach must insist that the risks are not only identified but are also managed effectively," he said.

Elderfield also maintained that despite the large overhaul in the banking sector, his primary concern remained to protect consumers and to deal with the growing problems in the mortgage arrears: "Consumer protection must remain a top priority in the new regulatory structure."

Click here to read the speech