The Central Bank does NOT authorise and regulate which of the following entities?

• A. Life assurance companies.
• B. Home reversion firms.
• C. Credit intermediaries.
• D. Reinsurance companies.

Answer: (C)

The important idea here is who the Central Bank licenses to operate and oversee. The Central Bank focuses on entities that take on financial risk or issue regulated financial products, such as insurers (life assurance and reinsurance) and providers in related sectors (for example, entities involved in equity release like home reversion firms) because these activities require prudential oversight and consumer protection at a systemic level.

Credit intermediaries, on the other hand, act as brokers or arrangers of loans rather than taking on the financial risk themselves or issuing insurance products. Their role is to facilitate credit between borrowers and lenders rather than to issue a financial product or hold customer funds. Because of that, they are typically regulated under separate consumer credit or conduct-of-business regimes and by a different regulator, not by the Central Bank. That’s why they are the entity the Central Bank does not authorize and regulate.