Govt wants Central Bank in financial sector forum
New structures to encourage the development of international financial services will include bringing the Central Bank into a new stakeholder engagement group with industry and see overall responsibility for promoting the sector shifting to the Department of Finance.
A new strategy for the sector will be launched today by Michael D’Arcy, Minister of State with special responsibility for Financial Services and Insurance, and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe.
Ahead of the launch, Mr D’Arcy said growth of the industry had stalled following the financial crisis.
“In the last decade we were just trying to keep the lights on,” he said.
The new strategy will mean a greater budget for the Department of Finance for its enhanced communications and promotions function.
The Central Bank lost that role following the crash.
The IDA does have a remit to bring in foreign direct investment, but has no role in developing indigenous firms.
The new push will set out broad goals, including to encouraging indigenous and foreign firms to expand here, a regional spread and more streamlined interaction with both the sector and with legislation and regulation increasingly coming from European level, he said. But he declined to give a specific target for job creation or overall value targets.
The Minister said complaints that the Central Bank here had failed to encourage banks and insurers leaving the UK as a result of Brexit – in contrast to some European peers – were wrong. “That wasn’t the case. The Central Bank were certainly unwelcoming of companies trying to trade somewhere else but pretend they were here.
“They weren’t having any of that,” he said.
However, the new strategy includes a push for greater engagement by regulators with industry.
“We want to establish a better structure with the Central Bank regulators and industry so we have agreed wording with the Central Bank that we will look at other eurozone countries and replicate what they do,” he said.
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