Merrion Stockbrokers Limited

introduction of the Fitness and Probity Regime on 1 December 2011, and persisted for over 4 years. During this period, Merrion failed to:  Introduce adequate systems or procedures to ensure compliance with its obligations under section 21 of the 2010 Act; and 2  Take reasonable steps to satisfy itself that its CFs and PCFs complied with the Standards. A programme of compliance improvements began following a management buy-out and the appointment of a new Board in late 2014. Following the Central Bank’s inspection in 2016, the current Board took appropriate steps to ensure that the inadequacies in Merrion’s Fitness and Probity policies and procedures were addressed. Head of Enforcement Investigations, Brenda O’Neill, said: “The Fitness and Probity regime was introduced in the wake of the financial crisis because of the need to ensure that the right individuals were working in the financial services sector and that those individuals would be held accountable if their conduct fell below the expected standards. Under the Fitness and Probity regime, the Central Bank acts as a gatekeeper for individuals in senior positions at supervised firms, known as pre-approval controlled functions. Importantly however, it is firms who have the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the wider population of individuals working in financial services, namely those in controlled functions, are suitable. This is an obligation that firms have when appointing individuals to roles. It is also an ongoing obligation for firms to ensure individuals continue to meet the Standards.

the Central Bank has taken the following into account:  once the breaches were discovered, the firm accepted that the breaches occurred and acted in a swift manner to rectify the situation; and  the cooperation of the firm during the investigation and in settling at an early stage in the Administrative Sanctions Procedure. The Central Bank confirms that the matter is now closed. - End - The Central Bank of Ireland has entered into a Settlement Agreement on 21 March 2012 with Merrion Stockbrokers Limited, a regulated financial services provider, in relation to breaches of the European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007. Firms are reminded that timeliness and accuracy of information submitted to the Central Bank was first identified as a priority area for enforcement action in the Enforcement Strategy published in 2010 and remains within our Enforcement Priorities for 2012. The Central Bank’s ability to monitor the markets for market abuse is key to its ability to fulfil the statutory objective of ensuring the proper and effective regulation of financial service providers and markets. In previous commentary relating to transaction reporting failures, we stated that accurate transaction reporting is essential for enabling the Central Bank to fulfill its role in effectively monitoring the market to detect market abuse and financial crime.