Financial Supervision Committee
The Central Bank carries out the tasks entrusted to the financial supervisory authority by law and regulatory acts, and the financial supervisory authority is an integral part of the Central Bank. The Bank shall monitor that the activities of supervised entities comply with laws and regulatory acts and that they are otherwise in accordance with sound and normal business practices, cf. the Act on Official Supervision of Financial Activities, cf. the fourth paragraph of Article 2 of Act No. 92/2019 on the Central Bank of Iceland.
Decisions entrusted to the financial supervisory authority by law or Governmental directives are taken by the Central Bank of
Iceland or by the Bank's Financial Supervision Committee; cf. Article 3,
Paragraph 2 of Act no. 92/2019.
The Financial Supervision Committee comprises the Governor of the Central Bank, the Deputy Governor for financial supervision, the Deputy Governor for Financial Stability, and three financial market experts appointed by the Minister responsible for financial market affairs for three to five-year terms. The Governor of the Central Bank serves as the chair of the Committee, with the Deputy Governor for Financial Stability as the deputy chair. The composition of the Financial Supervision Committee should ensure that the Committee collectively has adequate knowledge, competence, and experience to carry out the tasks assigned to it. The maximum serving time for each individual is ten years. The Minister may appoint the same person to the Financial Supervision Committee only twice.
The Financial Supervision Committee is currently composed of: Ásgeir Jónsson, Chair, Björk Sigurgísladóttir, Deputy Chair, Gunnar Jakobsson, Ásta Þórarinsdóttir, Erna Hjaltested, and Gunnar Þór Pétursson.
Policy formulation
The Bank's Financial Supervision Committee sets a policy on the application of administrative sanctions and coercive measures and shall provide an opinion on the strategic priorities of financial supervision. The Deputy Governor for Financial Supervision prepares a strategy proposal for the implementation of financial supervision and oversees its implementation once it has been discussed in the committee.
Financial supervision policy covers the activities entrusted to the Financial Supervisory Authority by law and defines the Central Bank of Iceland's main priorities, approach and methodology in supervising the financial market.
Financial Supervision Committee Meetings
The Financial Supervision Committee shall hold meetings as often as needed, on average at least six times a year. Additionally, the Financial Supervision Committee may hold a meeting at the request of the chair or three committee members. The Financial Supervision Committee establishes its Rules of Procedure, including on the preparation, justification, and publication of its decisions. The Financial Supervision Committee shall record minutes. The Financial Supervision Committee may make its decisions publicly available. However, a decision should not be disclosed if it is deemed to jeopardise the interests of the financial market, if it does not pertain to the market's interests as a whole, or if its publication is anticipated to cause disproportionate harm to relevant parties that is not justified by the reasoning behind the decision.
The Financial Supervision Committee shall submit an annual report on its activities to Althingi. The report shall be discussed in the parliamentary committee designated by the Speaker of Parliament.