The Central Bank has gone down the rare route of securing a High Court order banning an unauthorised financial adviser, Longford-based Rosaleen Grier, from providing debt management and mortgage broking services.
The second move of its kind was taken more than six years after the regulator issued a warning that Ms Grier, trading through the company Grier & Associates, was not authorised to carry out services of a debt management firm in the Republic.
“Following further and more recent investigations into Rosaleen Grier, the Central Bank is of the opinion that Rosaleen Grier has engaged in conduct that contravened provisions of financial services legislation by providing debt management services and carrying out the credit intermediation activities of a mortgage credit intermediary, without being authorised by the Central Bank to do so,” the bank said in a statement on Thursday.
The regulator secured an enforcement order from the High Court on November 1st restraining Ms Grier, Grier & Associates, and businesses trading at RG Consultants and RG Sales, from carrying out debt management or mortgage intermediation activities until authorised by the Central Bank.
Ms Grier, otherwise known as Rose Grier, consented to the enforcement order, it said.
A listed office number for Ms Grier was not working on Thursday when The Irish Times made efforts to secure comment.
Second time
While the Central Bank regularly issues public warnings against unregulated firms providing services that must be authorised, and maintains a list on its website of firms that it has issued alerts against, this is only the second time it has gone down the enforcement route.
The previous order was secured in 2015 against Tipperary-based businesses trading as Smart Resolutions Mediation and Clonmel C&R Management Consultants.
It is understood, however, that the bank is gearing up to take more enforcement actions for companies that ignore warnings to stop carrying out unauthorised activities.
