The Czech National Bank (CNB) is the Czech Republic’s main regulator, with the responsibility to authorize or register, as applicable, and supervise banks, insurers and other financial institutions. The CNB regulates the following entities, among others:

• Czech banks, Czech branches of foreign non-European Economic Area (non-EEA) banks, credit unions and, to a limited extent, foreign EEA banks operating in the Czech Republic on the basis of the EEA passport via a Czech branch
• Czech insurance companies, Czech reinsurance companies, insurance intermediaries, independent loss adjusters, branches of foreign non-EEA insurance and reinsurance companies, and to a limited extent, foreign EEA insurance companies operating in the Czech Republic on the basis of the EEA passport (directly or via a Czech branch)
• Czech Payment institutions, foreign EEA payment institutions operating in the Czech Republic based on the EEA single license, Czech small-scale payment service providers, operators of payment systems with settlement finality, Czech electronic money institutions, foreign EEA electronic money institutions operating in the Czech Republic based on the EEA passport, Czech small-scale electronic money issuers
• Czech bank and non-bank investment firms (i.e., securities dealers), Czech branches of foreign non-EEA investment firms, investment intermediaries, tied agents of investment firms and investment intermediaries, and to a limited extent, foreign EEA investment firms operating in the Czech Republic based on the EEA passport (directly or via a Czech branch)
• Securities issuers, the central depository (i.e., the main Czech securities depository), other entities keeping a register of investment instruments
• Organizers of trading venues (i.e., regulated markets, multilateral trading facilities and organized trading facilities), operators of settlement systems with settlement finality, credit rating agencies
• Investment companies and investment funds
• Providers and intermediaries of consumer credit
• Bureaux-de-change
• Pension funds, pension companies and other entities active in supplementary pension savings, pension savings and private pension schemes pursuant to special legislation private pension schemes, supplementary pension savings and pension savings

Entities operating in the Czech Republic on the basis of the EEA passport are subjects to the regulations and supervision of the country in which their headquarters are located.

The CNB is also responsible for the macro-supervision of the banking and financial services industries and the supervision of the banks, credit unions, investment firms and insurance companies in financial conglomerates. In addition, it operates the only interbank payment system in the Czech Republic.

Certain powers of supervision are also vested in the Financial Analytical Office, for example, under the Act on Certain Measures Against the Legalization of Proceeds from Criminal Activity and Financing of Terrorism. The Financial Analytical Office is entitled to suspend suspicious transactions which the obliged entities are required to report or freeze the assets in such transaction for a limited period. The Financial Analytical Office also deals with administrative offenses under the Act on Certain Measures Against the Legalization of Proceeds from Criminal Activity and Financing of Terrorism and may impose substantial fines or bans on activities of the obliged entities.

The European Union (EU) Supervisory Authorities (the European Banking Authority, the European Securities and Markets Authority, and the European Insurance and Occupational Pension Schemes Authority) play an important role in issuing technical standards and in some limited respects have powers of supervision over Czech firms.