Friday March 17 2017

News Source: Fund Regulation

Focus: AIFMD

Type: General

Country: Ireland




On 13 March 2017, the Central Bank published a revised AIF Rulebook.  As a consequence of the publication of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement Act) 2013 (Section 48(1))(Investment Firms) Regulations 2017 the chapter of the AIF Rulebook relating to Fund Administrators has been deleted.

With regards to the Q&A, existing question, ID 1021 concerning depositary services, has been amended as a consequence of the publication of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement Act) 2013 (Section 48(1))(Investment Firms) Regulations 2017 and now reads as follows:

ID 1021

  1. May an Irish authorised entity provide the safe-keeping and oversight duties set out in Article 21(7)-(9) of the AIFMD in respect of non-EU AIF as set out in Article 36 (1)(a)? If so is a specific authorisation required?
  2. Article 36(1)(a) does not set out eligibility criteria for entities, who will provide the safe-keeping and oversight duties prescribed in Article 21(7), (8) and (9), in respect of non-EU AIF where Article 36 applies. If an Irish non-bank entity proposes to provide “safe-keeping” so that the duties set out in Article 21(8) can be met it must have authorisation to provide “custodial operations involving the safe-keeping and administration of investment instruments” under the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995 or be an investment firm under the European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007 and authorised to carry out safe-keeping and administration of financial instruments for the account of clients, including custodianship and related services such as cash/collateral management. Where an entity is only providing one or both services referred to in Article 21(7) and Article 21(9), the Central Bank will not issue an authorisation under the IIA. Also, an Irish entity authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995, for example to provide fund administration services, may be appointed by an AIFM to provide the services set out in Article 36(1)(a) where these refer to Article 21(7) and 21(9) without seeking additional authorisation. In accordance with Regulation 4 of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48(1)) (Investment Firms) Regulations 2017 an investment firm shall consult with the Central Bank before – (a) Engaging in any new area of business or field of activity, (b) Establishing a branch, office or subsidiary; or (c) Introducing material changes to the investment firms’ operating model. Submissions to the Central Bank in this regard will be asked to demonstrate their capacity to provide the proposed activities without inappropriate conflicts. An Irish based entity appointed by an AIFM in accordance with Article 36 to carry out the duties referred to in Article 21(7), (8) and (9) must carry out those duties in accordance with the relevant requirements of Chapter IV of the Level 2 Regulation.

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