Investment Funds and Financial Services Regulation

Our Investment Funds and Financial Services Regulation team advises and assists a wide range of leading asset managers, investment funds, management companies, administrators, depositaries, e-money and payment institutions, insurance firms, securities and derivatives trading houses and other financial services firms. We have extensive expertise navigating clients through the complexities of traditional and emerging financial services law and regulation when doing business in, or through, Ireland. 

We work closely with our colleagues in the Byrne Wallace Shields LLP Banking and Finance, Corporate, Property and Tax teams to provide clients with expert legal advice and an integrated and seamless service.

Our Services 

Our Investment Funds and Financial Services Regulation team primarily advises in the following areas of expertise:

Investment Funds

Our primary client base is investment fund managers that invest private capital. We have experience in essentially every legal and regulatory aspect of the alternative investment fund management business in Ireland. In addition, we advise investment fund managers on the establishment of their UCITS products in Ireland for global distribution.

Financial Services Regulation

We advise on all aspects of financial services law and regulation as it applies to the financial services industry in Ireland. In particular, our team has extensive experience advising on issues such as regulatory capital requirements, anti-money laundering rules, investment funds marketing rules, compliance with corporate governance requirements and other financial services regulatory requirements in Ireland, including the evolving impact of the EU AI Act. We also advise on non-contentious insurance regulatory matters affecting insurance firms in Ireland and we advise large and sophisticated investors on their allocations to investment funds.

Debt Capital Markets

We advise issuers, investors and Ireland debt issuance vehicles on their programmes and public or private placements. Our work includes advising on standalone and multi-series note programmes to create bespoke Ireland based debt issuance vehicles.

Our Experience

Investment Funds

• Advising QIAIFs holding portfolios of assets across the liquidity spectrum to include real estate.
  
• Representing UCITS managers in structuring their funds in compliance with article 8 or 9 of SFDR.
  
• Advising promoters of closed-ended private equity funds in relation to a variety of regulatory compliance and governance matters, including side pocketed and distressed assets.
• Advising on the establishment and authorisation of investment limited partnerships.
  

Financial Services Regulation

• Advising on applications for authorisation by the Central Bank of Ireland of regulated financial services providers, to include AIFMs, fund administrators, insurance firms, MiFID firms, retail credit firms and UCITS management companies. 
• Advising a large number of regulated financial services providers on regulatory matters, including in relation to compliance with regulatory rules underpinning AIFMD, MiFID or the UCITS Regulations.
  
• Advising financial institutions on all aspects of compliance with Ireland’s anti-money laundering requirements.
  
• Advising on change of control consent applications to the Central Bank of Ireland as part of the acquisition or disposal of a regulated financial services provider.

Debt Capital Markets

• Advising on the establishment of debt securities note programmes investing in a range of assets, to include life settlement policies.
  
• Advising on the establishment of section 110 special purpose companies for the issue of bonds raising capital to originate loans to target companies.
  
• Advising on the addition of several collateral obligors to multi-collateral obligor secured notes programmes listed on the GEM of Euronext Dublin or the Vienna MTF of the Vienna Stock Exchange.
  
• Advising in areas such as funds finance, trustee and agency services and regulatory capital.