Ireland: proposed corporate governance standards for banks and insurers

The Financial Regulator has published for consultation minimum corporate governance standards for banks and insurance companies: see here (pdf).

Amongst the proposals are the following (to quote directly from para. 1.5 of the consultation paper):

• Impose requirements in terms of the minimum number of directors on the Board.
• Limit the number of directorships which directors may hold so as to ensure they can comply with the expected demands of Board membership of an institution.
• Require that Board membership is reviewed at a minimum every 3 years.
• Require clear separation of the roles of Chairman and CEO and preclude an individual who has been CEO, director or senior manager during the previous five years from becoming Chairman of that institution.
• Set out clearly the role of the independent non-executive directors.
• Require the Board to set the risk appetite for the institution and to monitor adherence to this on an ongoing basis.
• Set out the minimum requirements for Board committees.
• Require annual confirmation of compliance to the Financial Regulator.