Proposals from Financial Regulator say that banks and insurers should have no fewer than five board members. The plans would also limit the number of directorships that one person can hold.
The regulator this morning published a public consultation paper to set standards for the way financial institutions are run.
The paper says inadequate oversight of financial institutions was one of the causes of the global financial crisis, and that improvements in this area will make the Irish financial sector more resilient in future.
Read the paper in full here
It recommends that the roles of chief executive and chairman be clearly separated. It says an individual who has been a chief executive, director or senior manager of a company should not be eligible for the chairman's role until five years after holding a previous senior position.
In another proposal, any chairman of a financial institution must seek the approval of the regulator before taking on any other directorships.
Limits on multiple directorships planned
The paper also says membership of boards should be reviewed at least every three years. It says an individual should not be a director of more than three companies in the financial sector, while the regulator must approve cases where a person holds more than five directorships outside the financial area.
The regulator says remuneration committees - which decide on pay - should mainly be made up of independent directors. It says criteria for their roles and their independence need to be outlined, in order to avoid conflicts of interest.
The consultation paper is open to public comment until the end of June, and submissions will be published on the regulator's website at www.financialregulator.ie
The paper is part of a strategy to update the rules that apply to banks and insurance companies.
When the new rules are introduced, banks and insurers will be given six months to implement them, though this will extend to 12 months when changes in board membership are needed.
