Central Bank launches consultation on evolving regulation

What Changed

• - The CBI has opened a public consultation on its approach to Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), seeking views on how it should weigh evidence, assess costs and impacts, and structure its analysis when developing new regulatory policies.
• The consultation also covers the CBI’s approach to stakeholder consultation, including how it engages with industry, civil society, consumer representatives, the public, policymakers, and peer institutions when designing and reviewing regulation.
• The initiative sits within the CBI’s broader “more effective and efficient regulatory framework” programme, which includes a new supervisory approach and a roadmap of regulatory initiatives, signalling a systemic overhaul of how regulation and superv
• The CBI aims to make regulation clear, coherent and proportionate, explicitly linking rule‑making to protections for consumers, investors, and financial stability, and to the resilience of the financial system.
• The CBI is moving towards a more structured, transparent, and evidence‑based policymaking process, where the rationale for regulatory interventions, the analysis of options, and the assessment of costs/benefits are more clearly articulated and (over
• The consultation reflects the CBI’s ambition to operate as a “learning institution”, with greater emphasis on post‑implementation review: assessing how policies work in practice and adjusting them as circumstances evolve.

Suggested Considerations

• Conduct an internal review of your firm’s experience with recent CBI consultations (e.g. Consumer Protection Code, governance, outsourcing, AML, reporting) and document challenges, costs, and data gaps that could be addressed through a more robust RIA and consultation framework.
• Prepare and submit a response to the CBI consultation by 30 September 2026, either directly or via relevant industry associations, setting out detailed expectations on how RIA should address compliance costs, operational impacts, proportionality for smaller firms, and implementation lead times.
• Update your regulatory affairs or public policy strategy to explicitly incorporate the emerging CBI RIA framework, including criteria for when to engage, escalation thresholds for high‑impact proposals, and internal approval processes for consultation submissions.
• For Irish‑authorised groups operating cross‑border, align your approach to CBI RIA engagement with EU‑level impact assessment practices (e.g. European Commission and ESAs) to ensure consistency in messaging and evidence on cumulative regulatory burden and competitiveness.
• Monitor subsequent CBI publications (including the forthcoming feedback statement, revised Corporate Governance Codes, and sectoral plans) to identify where the new RIA framework is being applied and to anticipate where the CBI may seek additional data or structured feedback from firms.
• Ensure board and senior management are briefed on the consultation and on the strategic implications of a more formalised RIA process, including the potential for earlier visibility of regulatory direction, but also for more intensive requests for data and evidence during policy development.

Key Dates

Who is Affected