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Central Bank of Ireland Publishes Regulatory and Supervisory Outlook 2026, Setting Five Supervisory Priorities, February 2026

  • Legal Wizard
  • Mar 25
  • 3 min read

The Central Bank of Ireland published its Regulatory and Supervisory Outlook 2026 on 26 February 2026. The report sets out the Central Bank's assessment of risks facing the financial sector and its supervisory priorities for the next two years. The publication follows a letter from Governor Gabriel Makhlouf to the Tánaiste on the economic outlook and regulatory priorities issued in January 2026. This is the third edition of the report.


The Outlook identifies five supervisory priorities for the Central Bank's work over the period. Priority 1 addresses resilience to geopolitical risks and macro-financial uncertainties. Priority 2 concerns securing consumer and investor interests in a rapidly changing world. Priority 3 covers responding to technology-driven transformations. Priority 4 addresses helping to address environmental and societal structural transitions. Priority 5 focuses on enhancing how the Central Bank regulates and supervises. The Central Bank's assessment is that operational risks remain very high for the financial sector, driven by current geopolitical tensions, advancing digitalisation, and increasingly complex operating models. Relative to 2025, asset valuation and market risks have increased, as have risks associated with data, models, and artificial intelligence.


The report is structured in four sections and three spotlight topics. Section 1 sets out global macro environmental drivers of risk. Section 2 provides a risk assessment and outlook. Section 3 elaborates on the cross-cutting supervisory priorities. Section 4 sets out a sectoral focus for the different categories of regulated entity. The three spotlight topics address AI from a supervisory perspective, operational resilience with specific reference to the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), and securing better outcomes for consumers and investors. The accompanying Dear CEO Letter, also dated 26 February 2026, sets out the Central Bank's key regulatory and supervisory priorities for 2026 directed to chief executive officers of supervised firms.


Supervised firms, including payment institutions, electronic money institutions, investment firms, credit institutions, and fund service providers authorised or registered in Ireland, should treat the Outlook and the Dear CEO Letter as direct supervisory communications. Firms should review whether their governance, risk management, and operational resilience programmes align with the five stated priorities. DORA applies directly to many supervised entities from January 2025, and the Spotlight on operational resilience in the 2026 Outlook signals continued supervisory scrutiny on that topic. The Central Bank's stated intention to continue embedding its integrated supervisory approach and improving gatekeeping processes indicates heightened scrutiny at the authorisation and ongoing supervision stages.


Licentium advises on Irish and EU financial services regulation, including authorisation and licensing of payment institutions and electronic money institutions, MiCA compliance, DORA readiness, and ongoing supervisory engagement with the Central Bank of Ireland. Our partner network covers specialist counsel for Central Bank regulatory investigations, operational resilience structuring, and cross-border financial services. We welcome enquiries from firms seeking guidance on their obligations under the Regulatory and Supervisory Outlook 2026 priorities. Areas we handle include: payment institution licensing, EMI authorisation, DORA gap analysis, regulatory capital compliance, Central Bank of Ireland supervisory engagement, MiCA registration, and financial services governance reviews.



The information provided is not legal, tax, investment, or accounting advice and should not be used as such. It is for discussion purposes only. Seek guidance from your own legal counsel and advisors on any matters. The views presented are those of the author and not any other individual or organization. Some parts of the text may be automatically generated. The author of this material makes no guarantees or warranties about the accuracy or completeness of the information.

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