“Post-crisis financial regulation has brought significant benefits” Director of Policy & Risk, Gerry Cross

• Period of intense post-crisis regulatory reform is drawing to a close;
• Benefits include enhanced stability, safer firms, and better protected consumers;
• Well-regulated financial firms and markets play a key role in the economy.

At the Corporate Treasury & Cash Management Conference today, Central Bank of Ireland Director of Policy & Risk, Gerry Cross spoke about European regulation and its impact on Irish financial firms. On the role of the Central Bank in the changing regulatory environment he said, “the regulatory reforms introduced have been well-calibrated. Over the longer term we should work to increase understanding of the cumulative effects of those reforms”. Adding that “if the only objective of financial regulators was to ensure that financial firms did not fail, then it could be hard to ever say that the burden of financial regulation was too high. But financial regulation is also about a well-functioning system.”

He observed that “Regulators have gone to considerable lengths to assess the impact of the various regulatory initiatives – including many quantitative impact assessments. There are multiple benefits to financial regulation: systemic stability, the soundness of individual firms, the protection of consumers, the supporting of confidence, and the effective functioning of the economy.”

On the current position he noted that “We have reached the end of the period of intense post-crisis reform in prudential standards.  We are now in the phase of implementation and calmer, more predictable evolution as firms and markets develop.” He added that important work was continuing in other areas such as non-bank financing and capital markets union.

The full speech is available here.

ENDS