1. Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2022 passed
On 1 March 2023, the Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2022 (the "Bill") completed all stages of Dáil Éireann ("Dáil") and Seanad Éireann.
The Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath ("Minister"), after commending the Seanad amendments to the Dáil, acknowledged that getting the Bill to this point took "longer than anyone would have liked" but explained that "lengthy engagement with the Office of the Attorney General and the Central Bank" was necessary "to ensure that the legislation is effective and also constitutionally robust".
Next Steps
The Bill now awaits signature by the President.
The Minister confirmed the following regarding commencement:
- all sections of the Bill will be commenced as soon as possible following enactment, with the exception of Sections 3 – 6 and Section 10 which deal with the Senior Executive Accountability Regime, the conduct standards and the certification process; and
- these sections will be commenced following completion of the Central Bank of Ireland's public consultation; and
- it is expected that the Bill, as enacted, will be fully implemented in the current year.
2. Central Bank Defers Deadline for Outsourcing Register Submissions
The Central Bank of Ireland ("Central Bank") has written to Compliance Officers of Regulated Financial Service Providers ("RFSPs") advising that the submission date for RFSPs' end of year outsourcing registers for 2022, originally expected to be February 2023, has been deferred until Q4 2023.
The exact date of submission will be communicated in due course. The Central Bank also advised that it expects to release the relevant template for the submission in Q2 2023.
3. AML Updates
List of high-risk third countries under MLD4 is updated and published in OJ
In December 2022, the European Commission ("Commission") adopted a delegated regulation amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 on the list of high-risk third countries with strategic anti-money laundering ("AML") and counter-terrorist financing ("CTF") deficiencies under the Fourth Money Laundering Directive (EU) 2015/849 ("MLD4"). The delegated regulation, numbered (EU) 2023/410, was published in the Official Journal on 24 February 2023 and will come into force on 16 March 2023.
The delegated regulation amends the Annex to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1675 by:
- adding the following third countries:
- Democratic Republic of the Congo;
- Gibraltar;
- Mozambique;
- Tanzania; and
- the United Arab Emirates.
- removing the following third countries:
- Nicaragua;
- Pakistan; and
- Zimbabwe.
FATF updates its "Black and grey" lists:
The Financial Action Task Force ("FATF"), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, updated its "black" and "grey" lists on 24 February 2023.
The "black list" identifies countries or jurisdictions with serious strategic deficiencies to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and financing of proliferation. The current "black list" includes:
- Democratic People's Republic of Korea
- Iran
- Myanmar
The "grey list" identifies countries that are actively working with FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. The "grey list" currently includes:
- Albania
- Barbados
- Burkina Faso
- Cayman Islands
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Gibraltar
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Mali
- Mozambique
- Nigeria
- Panama
- Philippines
- Senegal
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Türkiye
- Uganda
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
4. EU agrees 10th package of sanctions against Russia
In the FIG Top 5 at 5 dated 22 February 2023, we reported on the high level proposals regarding the European Union's ("EU")10th package of sanctions against Russia ("Package"). On 24 February 2023, the Package was agreed upon by Member States. The Package is reflected in Council Implementing Regulations 2023/426 – 429 published in the Official Journal on 25 February 2023. The following specifics are relevant to the financial services industry:
- 121 individuals and entities have been added to the sanction list, including Russian decision makers, senior government officials and military leaders;
- three Russian banks Alfa-Bank JSC, PJSC Rosbank, and Tinkoff Bank JSC have been added to the list of entities subject to the asset freeze and the prohibition to make funds and economic resources available; and
- new reporting obligations on Russian Central Bank assets.
The Central Bank of Ireland has also updated its International Financial Sanctions webpage to reflect the Package and includes some specifics regarding the extension of certain derogations.
5. FSB Report on G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments
In 2020, the G20 Leaders agreed upon a Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-border Payments ("Roadmap"). Since then the Financial Stability Board ("FSB") has been considering the approaches and models which would best support the aims of the Roadmap. In October 2022, the FSB published a prioritisation plan which identified three "priority" themes to be considered:
- Payment system interoperability and extension;
- Legal, regulatory and supervisory frameworks; and
- Cross-border data exchange and message standards.
On 23 February 2023, the FSB released a report ("Report") which addresses the specific actions that will be taken under the three priority themes to achieve the Roadmap's targets by 2027. Amongst the actions are:
1. Payment system interoperability and extension
- Central bank operators' community of practice;
- Fast Payment Systems interlinking across borders; and
- Cross-border payment service level agreements/schemes.
2. Legal, regulatory and supervisory frameworks
- Bank/non-bank regulation and supervision;
- Information to end-users; and
- AML/CFT rules application.
3. Cross-border data exchange and message standards
- Interaction with data frameworks;
- ISO 20022 harmonisation requirements;
- API harmonisation; and
- LEI use.
Please see the Report for more details on how the FSB intends to action each of these.