Vasileios Madouros: Minding the tails - safeguarding resilience of non-bank finance
Speech by Mr Vasileios Madouros, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, at an event, organised by Irish Funds, Dublin, 9 April 2026.
Good morning. I am delighted to join you here this morning – and thank you to Irish Funds for organising this event.
As you know, a key part of our job at the Central Bank of Ireland is to focus on 'tail risks'. Not just what we expect will happen, but what could happen.
And the range of possible outcomes that could happen has recently widened considerably. What might have been considered close to unthinkable a few years ago, is no longer so.
Unpredictable geopolitical developments – including the ongoing conflict in the Middle East – have increased the likelihood of shocks hitting the global economy and the financial system.
In parallel, there are ongoing shifts happening within the financial system, with the emergence of new activities, new business models and new interconnections.
Chief amongst these is the continued growth of non-banks, a diverse sector that now holds around half of global financial assets and is at the heart of capital markets functioning.
Today, I want to talk about how we navigate this environment to safeguard resilience of this valuable source of financial intermediation, supporting the broader economy.
Opportunity, amid uncertainty
But before I do that, I want to talk about opportunity. Because we should not let uncertainty be a barrier to seizing the opportunities available – of which there are several.
Ireland's funds sector already plays an important role in intermediating flows of capital, with close to €6 trillion in assets under management, serving investors in Europe and globally.
This activity entails many economic benefits, including enabling retail investors to access capital markets and diversifying funding sources for companies.