Central Bank issues warning on debt management firm

The Central Bank has issued a warning on Smart Resolutions Mediation Limited (Ireland), which it says is not authorised as a debt management firm. It is the 21st such warning that the regulator has issued this year, and marks an increase in such announcements since the enactment of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act in August 2013.

Prior to this, the Central Bank’s powers to issue such warning notices were limited to firms whose activities fell within the scope of two regulations (th Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 and the EC (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007).

Since August 1st 2013 however, the Central Bank has the power to issue warning notices in relation to any unauthorised firm that is carrying on activities that would require an authorisation from the Central Bank.

So far this year the Central Bank has issued warnings on 21 companies purporting to be investment firms . As a comparison, 25 warnings were issued in total in 2013, down from 35 in 2012. In 2010 and 2011, just nine warnings were issued in each year.

Anyone with information on this company can contact the Central Bank on (01) 224 4000. Individuals can also ring this number to check if a person or firm is authorised or they can check a list of unauthorised firms here.