Enria to meet industry leaders over fitness and probity regime

The visit has not been announced but it is understood he will be gathering views and feedback including from outside the Central Bank on perceptions of how the fitness and probity regime, that was introduced after the financial crisis, is working.

The regime, which effectively gives the Central Bank a veto on senior appointments, was introduced in an effort to ensure decision makers in banks and other financial institutions are qualified and capable.

The review now under way comes after a damning judgment against the regulator’s process published last month.

The highly critical judgment by the Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal (IFSAT) raised significant questions over the Central Bank’s process, describing “fundamental procedural flaws” and asserting that the original process in the case it assessed under appeal “fell below the standard of constitutional fairness”.

It has struck a chord across the financial services sector where the opaque and often slow and unpredictable fitness and probity process individuals must undergo before taking on new roles or promotions has been a private bugbear that institutions have been reluctant to criticise publicly.

The so-called “slow no”, where candidate’s applications are not rejected outright but in many cases withdrawn during a lengthy wait for approval, is likely to be raised with Mr Enria, one senior source said.

It is seen as particularly unfair, leaving former candidates in professional limbo not only during the process, but afterwards. A perceived gap between how the regime works here and in other euro-area jurisdictions where many international financial services firms also operate is also likely to be raised, senior sources said.

In Ireland, unsuccessful applications are either rejected or slowly left to fall away, leaving a potential professional taint on unsuccessful candidates and sponsoring firms, while in other EU markets, regulators will grant conditional approval dependent on specific training being undertaken by individuals, another source said.

Mr Enria stepped down in December as chair of the supervisory board of the European Central Bank (ECB) and previously served in senior roles at the ECB, European Banking Authority and Italian central bank.

The terms of reference for the Enria review say its objective will be to make an independent assessment for the Central Bank governor on the manner in which the Central Bank here exercises its statutory functions in relation to fitness and probity, rather than examining the legal framework itself.