Remarks by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment

At the Launch of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority

In The Mansion House, Dublin on Thursday 1^st May 2003

This is an important day for consumers and providers of financial services.

Our new financial regulator is now up and running. The consumer is at the heart of financial regulation for the first time: in law, in organisation, in resources.

There is one way of summing this up: in the regulator's one phone number for consumers: 1890 treble 7 treble 7.

This is the one stop shop we have been seeking for consumers. There is now one place for their queries. No more confusion, no more split roles, no more falling between stools.

The same goes for the financial institutions, from the smallest broker to the largest bank. They too will be able to deal with one regulator. That will be of great benefit in the area of prudential supervision as much as in retail financial services.

There will be more people to help consumers too. One of the critical benefits of the new organisation will be the significant increase in staff resources to deal with consumer concerns and the consumer agenda generally. This will make a real difference.

I urge consumers to use the new service actively. I am particularly keen to see IFSRA fulfil the role we have given it of promoting the financial education of the public.

I am also keen to see IFSRA promote the development of financial services in Ireland. It's been a great success story for employment and international services. 36,000 people work in directly banking and 15,000 in insurance. That excludes intermediaries and a lot of indirect employment. We must keep developing the sector.

Public interest, consumer interest

In setting up the new regulator, we have taken the view that the public interest and the consumer interest are ultimately at one. Prudential supervision and consumer protection are complementary, not conflicting. This is the guiding principle of IFSRA. They can both best be achieved under the same roof, rather than in different institutions.

The new regulator will be able to share information with other law enforcement agencies to ensure that all the arms of the State work together in the public interest.

No one can guarantee that scandals and deficiencies in financial services and regulation will never recur. But we can safely say that, had this new regulator and its new legislation been in place in the past, the problems we discovered would not have gone unchecked for so long. I don't think anyone can credibly argue otherwise.

New organisation, new people

A tremendous amount of detailed work has been completed by many people to make this new start. Many points of view have been heard and taken on board. We were all determined to get it right from the start.

Across financial services, there is a heavy price to be paid if regulation doesn't work. This cost would have to be paid by consumers, business users, shareholders in financial institutions and taxpayers. Getting it right means getting an agreed way forward, within the appropriate policy framework, and a forward-looking team with balanced, expert judgment.

We have all those in place today, I am very happy to say. I am especially pleased that the board of IFSRA and the staff, who have been drawn from diverse organisations, have worked so well to bring us to this point. They are determined to implement the new mandate that the Government and the Oireachtas has given them. And I have every confidence that they will.

There has been some unfair and ill-thought out criticism of the management appointments at IFSRA.

The new management positions were advertised openly, handled by a professional recruitment process and decided on by the independent board of IFSRA. No-one was, or should have been, disqualified from applying for a position by virtue of the organisation they worked for. No-one was discriminated for or against.

The board of IFSRA made its judgement as to the best candidates on merit. That was the board's responsibility. I have full confidence in their process and their judgement.

Conclusion

As policymakers and administrators, we have learned from the past and we are moving on. Now it's time for the board, the management and staff of IFSRA to get on with the job they have been given.

It's a new start for consumers of financial services in this country.

ENDS