THE CENTRAL BANK has issued its revised code of corporate governance for credit institutions and insurance companies, after receiving 26 submissions on the subject following the publication of its consultancy paper.

The new code, which will cover all banks, credit unions and other lenders operating in the State — as well as insurance companies, comes into effect on 1 January 2015.

Amongst the main changes — institutions will have to appoint a ‘chief risk officer’; that person’s role and responsibilities are outlined in a new section of the code.

According to the Central Bank:

“The risk committee will be made up of a majority of non-executive or independent non-executive directors, one of whom must be the Chairman of the committee. The risk and audit committees will be required to have a minimum of three members.”

Institutions will have to introduce a diversity policy for board membership from 2015, while the number of board meetings required each year for ‘high impact’ institutions is being reduced from eleven to six.

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