Governor Lane sets out priorities for Central Bank in 2016

• Increased transparency: Minutes of Central Bank’s Commission meetings to be published.
• Macro prudential policies necessary to mitigate system-wide financial risks.
• Central Bank addressing its complex mandate, in response to the many lessons from the crisis

Read full speech.

In Philip Lane’s first public speech as Governor of the Central Bank, he has set out his commitment to build on progress achieved in recent years to recast the Bank as an efficient and effective central bank and financial regulator that is trusted by the public, respected by its peers and provides a fulfilling workplace for its people. His speech sets out the enhanced role of the Central Bank post-crisis and outlines how it is addressing its complex mandate, in response to the many lessons from the crisis.

Speaking at the Institute of Directors’ Spring Lunch, the Governor announced that the minutes of the Central Bank Commission meetings will be published as part of an ongoing effort to increase transparency: “The publication of these minutes should contribute to greater understanding of our corporate governance, internal debates and the initiatives we take to deliver on our mission.”

The Governor also outlined that the Central Bank will be vigilant in the deployment of macroprudential policies that can improve resilience and mitigate the pro-cyclical dynamics associated with excessive leverage and noted the first review of the mortgage rules will be published by November this year: “The rules-based framework is intended to promote the resilience of both banks and households and, as such, should be viewed as a permanent feature of the system. The Central Bank is open to tightening or loosening the calibration of these rules in response to the evidence; still, the value of stability in a rules-based framework means that the evidence threshold to justify adjustments to these rules is significant.”

Governor Lane said that his aim was to build on the progress that has been achieved in recent years in recasting the Central Bank as an efficient and effective central bank and financial regulator. He emphasised that the two pillars of the Bank (central banking and financial regulation) will work together to maintain financial stability, through macroprudential policies and supervision and regulation of firms and markets: “I am firmly committed to ensuring that the Central Bank fulfils its critical social responsibility towards consumers of financial services and the general public. To this end, the Central Bank will be vigilant and pro-active in its independent macroprudential and financial regulatory policies in order to avoid a repetition of the costly boom-bust cycle that Ireland endured in the last decade.”

His speech also outlined the organisation’s commitment to publishing data on salary structures and pay scales on an annual basis and noted that it has published these for the first time today, saying “by providing greater details on our human resources policies, we aim to enhance understanding about the Central Bank as a public organisation and prospective employer.”

Notes

• The Commission minutes will be published about six weeks after each meeting, with the minutes of the meeting in mid-December scheduled to be released by early February.
• While Commission minutes will be published, information on the supervision of regulated firms and market-sensitive financial operations activities cannot be disclosed.
• A report commissioned by the Central Bank examining external reviews of regulations is available.
• Salary information is available here.