BNN Bloomberg | Peter O’Dwyer | Feb 2, 2023

Ireland’s central bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf warned Finance Minister Michael McGrath that the growth of financial technology, Irish government policy and Brexit have created “challenges” for its job as a regulator.

“The growth of these sectors — not least as a result of the Ireland for Finance Strategy, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and the focus of technology firms on financial services — poses challenges to our mandate,” he wrote in Jan. 17 correspondence sent to McGrath.

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The Central Bank’s role in regulating financial technology has been in the spotlight over recent years. Payments company Stripe recently recommended that Ireland should benchmark its regulatory approach against “major peers in the EU.”

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Brexit has foisted an additional workload on the central bank as some financial services firms have moved operations from Britain into EU member states such as Ireland. European authorities want local regulators to keep a closer eye on whether these offices are properly staffed.

Makhlouf also singled out the funds sector and said introducing “measures to mitigate green-washing risks” were among the central bank’s priorities. It would also focus on enhancing “governance, oversight and investor outcomes” within the industry, he added.