Safeguarding

Safeguarding Audit

On 9 December 2021, The Central Bank issued a “Dear CEO” letter with the purpose of setting out clearly its expectations for all Payment and E-Money firms and the actions it expects the Boards and senior management of these firms to undertake to ensure the firms are in compliance with their regulatory requirements and any conditions imposed on the firms’ authorisation.

By 31 March 2022, firms had to provide an attestation confirming the completion of a compliance assessment against its regulatory and supervisory requirements.

Guide

Central Bank of Ireland Sets Expectations for Payment and E-money Firms

The letter from Mary-Elizabeth McMunn, Director of Credit Institutions Supervision, sets out the actions Boards and senior management are expected to carry out to ensure ongoing compliance with its regulatory requirements.

The regulator requires, in order to become authorised as a payment or e-money institution firm, firms must have in place adequate mechanisms to protect consumer funds through ‘’safeguarding’’.

As such, applicant firms must hold funds received from consumers for payment/e-money services separately from other funds and place them in a special account held within an EEA authorised bank, or to cover the funds with an insurance or guarantee policy.

Firms must abide by the safeguarding requirements as stipulated by the EU Second Payment Services Directives (PSD2) as well as the Electronic Money Directive, as implemented through the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48(1) Investment Firms Regulations 2017.

As the leading boutique compliance firm in Ireland, you can be confident that you are receiving the correct guidance and peer-benchmarked advice.

What is a safeguarding review?

A safeguarding review is an independent audit of compliance with the safeguarding obligations stipulated by PSD2, Electronic Money Directive and Investment Firms Regulations.

Its objective is to demonstrate that you are adequately protecting consumer funds.

What does the safeguarding review involve?

Within the safeguarding review, we use a combination of document review, sample testing, walkthroughs and interviews with staff to understand how you have set up your arrangements and their effectiveness in practice.

The services are delivered by our own auditors who are both expert in safeguarding and experienced in auditing.

Book your free consultation

    fscom needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy.

    Why choose fscom?

    Your Practice Lead

    Evan McGookin

    Senior Manager

    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing vel metus faucibus elit.

    Curabitur sollicitudin lacus in odio maximus volutpat. Aenean id ante nunc.

    Get started today

    If you are looking for a thorough, independent review of your safeguarding arrangements by the leading experts in the industry, contact us today for a free initial consultation.

      fscom needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy.