High Court Approves Administrative Sanctions Regime Against Former Officer

The High Court on 4 January 2016 refused a judicial review of the administrative sanctions procedure (the "ASP") commenced by the Central Bank of Ireland (the "CBI") against Michael P Fingleton, a former director and chief executive of the Irish Nationwide Building Society ("INBS") (Fingleton v The Central Bank of Ireland [2016] IEHC 1).

This decision is the first judicial analysis of CBI's powers under the ASP. The ASP allows CBI to investigate regulatory breaches by a regulated institution. An ASP can lead to a caution, reprimand, a fine of up to €5 million and/or disqualification. The regulated institution and those concerned in its management, e.g. directors and other officers, can be the subject of an ASP. The applicant's challenge centred on the interpretation of CBI's statutory powers to pursue the ASP against a person who is no longer an officer of the regulated institution. The challenge failed.

Background

The applicant was a director of INBS from 1971 until January 2008. He was then chief executive officer until April...