Authorisation

A common area inside the main Central Bank of Ireland offices with a yellow sofa and three round tables with four people seated and looking at laptops are in the foreground. A table, five people and stairs are the background area.

What We Do

The Central Bank of Ireland is the competent authority in Ireland for the authorisation of the majority of financial services firms and products. The Central Bank is committed to providing a clear, open and transparent authorisation process while ensuring a rigorous assessment of the applicable regulatory standards. Where the term Authorisation is used, this can also be interpreted as approval in relation to disclosure requirements or registrations.

Our Approach

Authorisation is an important part of our supervisory framework. It requires us to assess firms’ proposals and products against applicable regulatory standards and legal requirements and to ensure that any firm or product authorised demonstrates that it has met and will continue to meet those standards and requirements.

Regulatory Service Standards Performance Report 2023 | pdf 507 KB

Authorisation and Gatekeeping Report

The Central Bank of Ireland published its inaugural Authorisation and Gatekeeping Report in June 2024. This report aims to provide increased transparency and predictability regarding our authorisations expectations and processes. The report will be published annually going forward.

Authorisations and Gatekeeping Report Edition 1 | pdf 722 KB

Cross Sectoral Guidance on Authorisation Expectations 

Cross sectoral guidance on expectations for applicants seeking authorisation is available below. 

Authorisations - Cross Sectoral Expectations | pdf 854 KB

This guidance expands on existing guidance published on our website and provides further detail on how the Central Bank discharges its authorisation mandate. This guidance seeks to increase the transparency of the authorisation process for firms seeking to be authorised and regulated by the Central Bank and to support firms in understanding our high-level requirements and expectations of applicants. Applicant firms should read this guidance alongside the specific information for their type of firm or business model.

Authorisation Process for Individual Sectors

Use the links below to learn about the authorisation approval process for individual sectors.

Central Securities Depositories

Credit Serving Firms

Credit Institutions

Insurance / Reinsurance Undertakings

Retail Intermediaries, Money Lenders and Debt Management Firms

Payment Institutions, Electronic Money Institutions, Account Information Service Providers, Bureaux de Change and Money Transmission Businesses

Investment Funds and Fund Service Providers

Investment Firms

Regulated Disclosures - Prospectus Approval

Trust or Company Service Providers

Fitness and Probity PCF