The Central Bank’s Administrative Sanctions Procedure (the ASP) is the regulator’s key enforcement tool.
The ASP has been reformed alongside a package of changes to investigations in the financial services sphere. The reforms were recently published by the Central Bank via new ASP Guidelines, along with Central Bank commentary in its feedback statement.
In this guide, ALG’s Regulatory Investigations team summarises the key changes to enforcement investigations under the new ASP Guidelines. From our experience in advising firms and individuals under investigation, we explain what this means in practice for you and your business when breaches arise or when the regulator intervenes.
The key changes involve: updated investigation procedures for collating evidence and setting out preliminary cases, new routes for reaching settlements in different scenarios, updated factors and methodology used by the regulator in assessing appropriate sanctions, further guidance on the treatment of confidential and privileged material and more detail on the conduct of formal Inquiries.
Given these reforms apply both to investigations into firms and also individuals, for example, pursuant to the new SEAR Duty of Responsibility and Individual Accountability Framework ‘Common’ and ‘Additional’ Conduct Standards, these updates are as relevant to team leads, executives and board members in regulated firms as they are for firms themselves.
For further information on the reforms to the ASP and what it means for you and your firm, please contact Dario Dagostino, Partner, Mark Devane, Partner, Chloe Culleton, Partner, Patrick Brandt, Partner, Aisling Ennis, Solicitor, Cormac Brennan, Solicitor, Sarah Lee, Senior Knowledge Lawyer, or your usual contact in the ALG Regulatory Investigations team.
Date published: 20 December 2023
