By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
THE Central Bank of Ireland will launch a review examining how funds report suspicious transactions.
Speaking at the European Anti-Financial Crime Summit (EAFCS) 2026 in Dublin, Patricia Dunne, the regulator’s Director of Horizontal Supervision, warned that the sector carries a high financial crime risk.
“Funds can be exploited for money laundering and terrorist financing, with the funds sector in Ireland being the subject of international scrutiny from an AML/CFT perspective given its size and reach,” she told the event.
“It is a key area of focus for the Central Bank. In 2026 we will be undertaking a thematic review of suspicious transaction report (STR) reporting in the sector.
She added: “Inadequate monitoring of these risks exposes the sector to potential abuse, including breaches of financial sanctions.”
Ms Dunne also highlighted several other areas of concern for the watchdog. These include the “opaque and rapidly evolving nature” of the crypto market.
She said these issues can make detection and tracing of the financial crime activities “particularly challenging”.
“We expect firms to maintain effective AML and fraud-prevention controls to mitigate financial crime risks,” she said. “This will be a key element of our supervisory focus in 2026.”
For supervising companies, Ms Dunne said the Central Bank will use targeted inspections.
“We will also be assessing how firms understand their ML/TF exposures,” she said. “And whether their control frameworks are proportionate to those risks.”
Ms Dunne added that the regulator’s enhanced Risk Evaluation Questionnaire (REQ) will be a critical tool in identifying risk.
“[This] will capture detailed quantitative and qualitative information on the quality of firms’ controls,” she said.
“This data will help us identify emerging threats, guide our supervisory strategy, and support the work of AMLA.”
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