The Central Bank is to accelerate its drive to form a register of one specific category of investment brokers. The move is intended to help protect investors from financial losses though dealing with rogue brokers.

Restricted activity brokers who do not reply to the bank's requests for information on their operation may find that insurance companies will no longer be able to take business from them. The Bank took over regulation of this category of broker from the Department of Enterprise and Employment in April.

Restricted activity brokers are brokers who only carry out business on behalf of the insurance/investment companies that have appointed them to act as agents. Under the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995 these brokers do not have to come forward to be authorised by the Central Bank. If they stick to their restricted areas of business they are deemed to be authorised and are not required to seek authorisation from the Central Bank.

But as their regulator the Bank wants to have a register of these agents and to ensure they are complying with their legal requirements, including the need to have bonding for customer protection.

Already the Central Bank has received lists of agents' names from the insurance companies. Within the past two months the bank has written to about 1,200 agents asking them to complete detailed questionnaires and to send in copies of their bonds and their letters of appointments from insurers.

While not all of the 1,200 agents will need to be registered, the bank intends to ensure that those who should do so. In coming weeks it will advertise asking brokers to send in the required information. Brokers who do not have bonds will be "deauthorised".

In the case of brokers who fail to co-operate, the bank is expected to tell the product producers - the insurance companies - not to do business with them.