Derville Rowland: Enhanced governance, performance and accountability in financial services - the Individual Accountability Framework

Address by Ms Derville Rowland, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, at a joint Central Bank of Ireland / Law Society breakfast seminar, Dublin, 17 April 2023.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

It is a pleasure to be with you this morning to discuss the Central Bank consultation on key aspects of the Individual Accountability Framework (IAF), and I'm grateful to the Law Society and its members for kindly hosting us.

At its core, financial regulation is about supporting positive outcomes, protecting consumers and investors, and, ultimately, contributing to the economic well-being of the community as a whole.

The regulatory expert Malcom Sparrow, Professor of the Practice of Public Management at the Harvard Kennedy School, notes the challenge for all regulators of "reducing harms on the one hand, and respecting the traditional regulatory values of fairness, consistency, proportionality and predictability on the other".

Since day one in framing the IAF, this is a challenge we have been acutely conscious of.

The purpose of the IAF is to promote sound governance throughout the regulated financial services sector. The framework is very much in keeping with the key themes of the Central Bank's strategy, namely: (i) safeguarding; (ii) future-focused; (iii) transforming; and (iv) open and engaged.

Safeguarding reflects our commitment to strengthen the design, implementation and operation of our core policy and supervisory frameworks.

By being future-focused, we are regulating for a rapidly evolving financial system – ensuring that the opportunities presented by change and innovation can be realised for citizens and the economy while the risks are managed.

Through transforming, we aim to be a more agile, resilient, diverse and intelligence-led organisation.