Central Bank Concludes Public Consultation on Enhanced Administrative Sanctions Procedure

Following a twelve-week public consultation, the Central Bank has published a Feedback Statement and consolidated Guidelines relating to the enhanced Administrative Sanctions Procedure(ASP).   The ASP is the Central Bank’s primary tool for carrying out investigations and inquiries, and imposing administrative sanctions if it determines that firms or individuals that it supervises have breached financial services legislation.

While much of the ASP remains the same, the Individual Accountability Framework Act changed the ASP in several ways. In some circumstances, the Central Bank can now take direct enforcement actions against individuals, and where a settlement is agreed and is based on admissions, a High Court order is required to confirm the sanctions imposed. Other practical changes include allowing for earlier disclosure of documents to subjects of investigations; and the Central Bank has now published the methodologies for determining monetary penalties.

The ASP Guidelines come into force on the 13^th of December 2023.