Financial Regulation

Our Financial Regulation Group advises on a wide variety of EU and Irish regulatory and compliance matters relevant to the financial services industry. We act for a wide range of Irish and international credit institutions, investment firms, asset managers, payment institutions, e-money issuers, non-bank lenders and other financial institutions.

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We provide advice on Irish authorisation and licensing perimeter issues, compliance with conduct of business rules, regulatory capital, securities market regulations, payment services/fintech, corporate governance, fitness and probity, AML and financial institution M&A (including the acquisition and disposal of financial assets). We also advise on regulatory enforcement actions taken by the Central Bank of Ireland and the European Central Bank and on industry investigations and inquiries.

Expertise

We provide a full range of advice to financial institutions and other financial services clients on Irish regulatory and compliance issues. In particular, our areas of expertise include:

Advice on licensing perimeter issues and licence applications
Advice on conduct of business requirements, including MiFID II, PSD II, the CPC 2012 and the SME Regulations
Financial institution M&A
Financial asset acquisitions and disposals
Risk management and corporate governance
Fitness and probity and the individual accountability framework
Remuneration
AML
Market abuse, transparency and prospectus requirements
Consumer credit
Payment services and e-money
Crypto-currencies and virtual assets
Investigations and enforcement action by regulators

We advise many of Ireland’s leading financial institutions. In addition, we have assisted many major international financial institutions on their establishment in Ireland and on their activities in Ireland. We regularly advise international law firms on Irish regulatory matters. The firm has also advised Government departments and trade bodies on specialist matters.

Finance: Monthly Horizon Scanner

Our Finance Group publishes a monthly horizon-scanner, covering topical Irish and EU legal and regulatory matters. Previous monthly editions can be accessed here.

Relevant Experience

Advising multiple clients on redomiciling to Ireland post-Brexit (including advising on licence applications)
Advising financial institutions on Central Bank enforcement actions, including negotiating settlement agreements with the Central Bank
Advising financial institutions on the Central Bank’s industry-wide tracker mortgages inquiry
Advising private equity funds on the acquisition and servicing of distressed Irish loan portfolios
Advising fintech firms on establishing in Ireland and compliance with Irish and EU regulatory requirements
Advising numerous clients on the implementation of recent legislation and regulatory requirements, including the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears and the SME Regulations 2015
Advising numerous clients on notifications to the Central Bank of Ireland in connection with the acquisition of regulated entities in Ireland