Title: Iceland’s Central Bank Cracks Down on Financial Regulation Compliance: A Comprehensive Look

Central Bank Oversight: An Insightful Glance

The Central Bank of Iceland is dedicated to ensuring financial regulation compliance among various financial market participants within its jurisdiction. According to Article 2 of Act no. 87/1998 on the Official Supervision of Financial Activities, the Central Bank is tasked with monitoring the adherence of financial entities to the relevant laws, regulations, and rules.

Entities under Central Bank’s Supervision: Commercial banks, savings banks, credit undertakings, investment firms, UCITS management companies, alternative investment funds managers, UCITS funds, alternative investment funds, money market funds, European venture capital funds and European social entrepreneurships funds, European long-term investment funds, issuers of covered bonds, and managers of financial benchmarks.
Other Financial Institutions: Credit rating agencies, depositors and investors’ guarantee fund for financial undertakings, insurance companies, holding companies, insurance groups, and financial conglomerates, insurance brokers, stock exchanges and other regulated markets, central securities depositories, pension funds and depositories of pension savings, debt collection agencies, payment institutions and other payment service providers, electronic money institutions, currency exchange offices, crypto-asset service providers, branches of foreign companies, and agents and distributors representing foreign financial institutions.

Supervision of Financial Sector: An In-Depth Look

The Central Bank’s remit extends beyond the listed entities to specific financial activities and markets. The following are under its supervision:

Securities Trading: Acquisitions of issuers whose securities have been admitted to trading on a regulated securities market.
Investment Services: Investment services and practices, short selling, credit default swaps, derivatives trading, central counterparties, derivatives trade repositories, and market abuse.
Disclosure Obligations: Disclosure obligations of issuers of securities, financing transactions, and published prospectuses in the context of public securities offerings.
Insurance Contracts: Insurance contracts.
Distance Selling: Distance selling of financial services.
Retail Products: Key information documents for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products.
Sustainability: Information on sustainability and the taxonomy for sustainable investments.
Winding-Up: Plays a vital role in the winding-up of financial undertakings managed by winding-up boards.

Global Reach: Regulating Foreign Entities in Iceland

The Central Bank’s jurisdiction also covers the supervision of:

Domestic Entities Operating Abroad: The activities of domestic entities operating abroad.
Foreign Entities in Iceland: Foreign entities in Iceland, subject to the provisions of special laws and international agreements to which Iceland is a party.

For more information on the activities of foreign entities in Iceland, please visit our dedicated resource page.