IRELAND: Central Bank Publishes the Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations

Friday March 17 2017

On 13 March 2017, the Central Bank published the Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations. The Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations consolidate into one location all of the requirements which the Central Bank imposes on certain Investment Firms. They supplement existing legislative requirements, in particular the European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007 and the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995.

The Central Bank has also published Guidance and Q&A to assist firms in complying with these requirements.

As well as being subject to the regulatory requirements that derive from Irish and European legislation, Fund Administrators are also subject to various other supervisory requirements based on the nature of their activities and the associated risks. The Central Bank has issued guidance on a number of topics to assist users of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48(1)) (Investment Firms) Regulations. The list of topics are as follows:

• Relationship with the central bank
• Fund administrators outsourcing
• Own funds, risk assessment and capital planning for fund administrators

The Q&A sets out answers to queries which may arise in relation to the Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations 2017. The following sections are included:

• General supervisory requirements for investment firms
• Outsourcing requirements for fund administrators
• Final NAV
• Own funds and capital adequacy requirements for fund administrators

Click on the link above for further details.