Regulation of financial services is a key component in obtaining a degree of international competitiveness in a modern progressive economy, argued Patrick McNutt in submission to Department of Finance. In framing a single legal text purporting to supplant all or part of existing primary legislation governing the regulation of the financial services sector in Ireland there are two key factors argues McNutt and thus, the Minister’s intention to establish a new regulatory structure is timely. The two factors are:
- The rapid technological changes in telecommunications and data processing.
- The regulatory burden in the post-FSAP environment across the EU25. The Minister’s intention is that the Consolidation and Simplification Bill, [henceforth, the Bill] is to be presented to the Oireachtas in 2005 and that it should cover a range of priorities, and thus comply with the State’s obligations under EU law. The regulatory obligations will evolve during the implementation stages of the European Commission’s Financial Services Action Plan [FSAP, henceforth], commencing 2005.