Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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75. To ask the Minister for Finance the basis on which lending institutions currently existing or having exited from the Irish market remain accountable to the regulatory mechanisms here in terms of their winding up operations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2111/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Where a Central Bank regulated lender transfers all or part of its regulated activities to another regulated financial institution, the same protections apply to borrowers, including the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears (CCMA) and the Consumer Protection Code. Any agent acting on behalf of a regulated lender must comply with the requirements of Irish financial services law and failure to do so may result in the Central Bank imposing penalties on the regulated lender concerned.

The Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Code 2012 imposes obligations on regulated entities in relation to their interactions with consumers. Where a regulated entity intends to cease operating, merge with another, or to transfer all or part of its regulated activities to another regulated entity, Provision 3.11 of the Consumer Protection Code states that it must:

a. notify the Central Bank immediately;

b. provide at least two months’ notice to affected consumers to enable them to make alternative arrangements;

c. ensure all outstanding business is properly completed prior to the transfer, merger or cessation of operations or, alternatively in the case of a transfer or merger, inform the consumer of how continuity of service will be provided following the transfer or merger; and

d. in the case of a merger or transfer of regulated activities, inform the consumer that their details are being transferred to the other regulated entity, if that is the case.

By virtue of an exemption in Part V of the Central Bank Act 1997, an unregulated entity to whom a cash loan is transferred by a regulated entity is not subject to Central Bank supervision under the Consumer Protection Code and CCMA. Under the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013, the Central Bank may exercise its information-gathering and authorised officers’ powers in respect of a person, including a corporate entity, which is or has been a regulated financial service provider.