Deputy Central Bank governor Roux to leave regulator for private sector role
DEPUTY Central Bank governor Cyril Roux is moving to the private sector, marking yet another high-profile departure from the regulator.
Mr Roux – who is responsible for financial regulation and was appointed in 2013 – will leave the bank in April and return to the private sector in September.
The Frenchman, who holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University, said he leaves the Central Bank “with a heavy heart”, but added he did not want to pass the opportunity to return to the private sector “in the very best of terms”.
Mr Roux said it had been an “exceptional experience” to lead financial regulation in Ireland and to be part of the executive leadership of the Central Bank.
“Over the past few years, our macro-prudential rules, the roll-out of incisive on-site inspections, our strengthened codes and regulations, and increased analytical ability have helped secure the Bank’s place among the leading regulators in Europe,” he said.
Governor Philip Lane said the departure of Mr Roux would be met with gratitude and regret, and that he had led financial regulation in Ireland with great strength and distinction, and leaves a secure legacy.
Mr Roux had been criticised over the Central Bank’s handling of the sharp rise in motor insurance premiums. however.
The bank had been accused at an Oireachtas Committee of being too slow to step in.
The Central Bank has had a number of senior departures in recent years.
Former Central Bank deputy governor Stefan Gerlach left the regulator at the end of 2015, shortly after the retirement of former Governor Patrick Honohan.
Current FBD chief executive Fiona Muldoon left her former job as head of banking super- vision in 2013, following the exit of former deputy governor Matthew Elderfield, who terminated his contract early and joined Lloyds Banking Group in London. The bank has also lost Jonathan McMahon, head of enforcement Peter Oakes and credit union registrar James O’Brien.
The resignation of Gareth Murphy, the Central Bank’s director of markets supervision, was announced last August.
Mr Roux has previously bemoaned public sector pay restrictions, which he said hampered the organisation’s ability to keep its supervisory function beefed up.