Regulated activities
The Central Bank of Iceland shall monitor the compliance of the activities of regulated entities with laws, regulations and rules or resolutions governing such activities, and their consistency in other respects with sound and proper business practices.
The Central Bank supervises the activities of the financial undertakings, insurance undertakings, pension funds and other undertakings in the financial market, cf. Article 2 of Act no. 87/1998 on the Official Supervision of Financial Activities.
Regulated activities
| Commercial banks | Act no. 161/2002 | |||
| Savings banks | Act no. 161/2002 | |||
| Credit undertakings (investment banks) | Act no. 161/2002 | |||
| Investment firms | Act no. 161/2002 | Act no. 115/2021 | ||
| UCITS management companies | Act no. 116/2021 | |||
| Alternative investment funds managers | Act no. 45/2020 | |||
| UCITS funds | Act no. 116/2021 | |||
| Alternative investment funds | Act no. 45/2020 | |||
| Money market funds | Act no. 6/2023 | |||
| European venture capital funds and European social entrepreneurship funds | Act no. 31/2022 | |||
| European long-term investment funds | Act no. 115/2022 | |||
| Issuers of covered bonds | Act no. 11/2008 | |||
| Managers of financial benchmarks | Act no. 7/2021 | |||
| Credit rating agencies | Act no. 50/2017 | |||
| Depositors and investors' guarantee fund for financial undertakings | Act no. 98/1999 | |||
| Insurance companies | Act no. 100/2016 | |||
| Holding companies, insurance groups and financial conglomerates | Act no. 161/2002 | Act no. 60/2017 | Act no. 61/2017 | |
| Insurance brokers and other distributors | Act no. 62/2019 | |||
| Stock exchanges and other regulated markets | Act no. 115/2021 | |||
| Central securities depositories | Act no. 7/2020 | |||
| Pension funds and depositories of pension savings | Act no. 129/1997 | |||
| Debt collection agencies | Act no. 95/2008 | |||
| Payment institutions and other payment service providers | Act no. 114/2021 | Act no. 5/2023 | Act no. 31/2019 | Act no. 78/2014 |
| Electronic money institutions | Act no. 17/2013 | |||
| Currency exchange offices | Act no. 140/2018 | |||
| Crypto-asset service providers | Act no. 140/2018 | |||
| Branches of foreign companies located in Iceland and falling under points a–e of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of Act no. 140/2018. | Act no. 140/2018 | |||
| Agents and distributors representing foreign financial institutions with operations in Iceland falling under points a–e of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of Act no. 140/2018. | Act no. 140/2018 | |||
| Creditors and credit intermediaries | Act no. 118/2016 | |||
| Creditors and credit intermediaries in accordance with Act no. 33/2013 on Consumer Credit falling under point a of paragraph 1 of Article 2 of Act no. 140/2018. | Act no. 140/2018 |
Supervision of securities market
The Central Bank also supervises:
| Acquisitions of issuers whose securities have been admitted to trading on a regulated securities market | Act no. 108/2007 |
| Investment services and the practice of investment activities | Act no. 115/2021 |
| Short selling and credit default swaps | Act no. 55/2017 |
| Derivatives trading, central counterparties and derivatives trade repositories | Act no. 15/2018 |
| Market abuse | Act no. 60/2021 |
| Disclosure obligations of issuers of securities and flagging requirements | Act no. 20/2021 |
| Financing transactions with securities | Act no. 41/2023 |
| Published prospectuses when a public offering of securities is called or they are admitted to trading on a regulated market | Act no. 14/2020 |
Other supervision
The Central Bank also supervises inter alia:
| Insurance contracts | Act no. 30/2004 |
| Distance selling of financial services | Act no. 33/2005 |
| Key information documents for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products | Act no. 55/2021 |
| Information on sustainability in the field of financial services and taxonomy for sustainable investments | Act no. 25/2023 |
Supervision of winding-up boards
The Central Bank has special supervision of the winding-up of financial undertakings, which is managed by winding-up boards, regardless of whether the undertaking in question holds an operating licence, limited operating licence or the operating licence has been revoked, cf. Article 101(a) of Act no. 161/2002 on Financial Undertakings.
Activities of domestic entities abroad and foreign entities in Iceland
Supervision of the activities of domestic entities abroad and foreign entities in Iceland is subject to the provisions of special laws and the international agreements to which Iceland is a party. See more about activities of foreign entities in Iceland.