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Sarah Thompson
+44 28 9026 5894
[email protected]
Ten Earlsfort Terrace
Dublin 2
D02 T380
Ireland
Sarah Thompson is Head of our Financial Regulation Group, and is also Head of our cross-disciplinary ESG Group.
Sarah has experience in advising a broad range of clients on financial regulation matters and is admitted to practice in Northern Ireland, Ireland and England & Wales.
Sarah advises on Central Bank of Ireland authorisation processes, perimeter issues, ongoing compliance with conduct of business and other requirements (with a special focus on ESG matters and on the Individual Accountability Framework and the Senior Executive Accountability Regime, IAF/SEAR), and financial services M&A.
Prior to joining Arthur Cox, Sarah worked in London as a member of the Financial Regulation Group of Linklaters LLP and a partner in the Financial Services Regulatory team of Kirkland & Ellis International LLP.
Relevant Experience
- Assisting clients with applications for authorisation as MiFID investment firms and electronic money institutions
- Advising a number of leading US private equity houses on their obligations under MiFID, SFDR and IFR/IFD
- Assisting a number of global financial institutions in tracking ESG developments and preparing for compliance (at firm and product levels)
- Advising the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility (designed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), in collaboration with Afreximbank) on its inaugural repo transaction with Citi
- Delivering training to client legal and compliance teams on various matters including governance matters, IAF/SEAR and sustainable finance regulation
- Working with a number of Irish credit institutions to prepare for the introduction of the revised Irish client asset regulations
- Advising Montagu and Hg on financial services regulatory matters connected to their investments in Waystone
- Advising Global Shares plc on financial services regulatory matters connected to its acquisition by JP Morgan
Insights Blog
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T+1 Settlement Update: Commission proposes change to CSDR
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DORA Compliance: What is an ICT Service?
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CSRD: Recent Developments for Sustainability Reporting
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Instant Payments Regulation: First set of new requirements apply from 9 January 2025
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Fitness and Probity: Central Bank announces establishment of dedicated Fitness and Probity Unit
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Sustainability Developments: Possible Omnibus Simplification Package for Reporting; Possible move from SFDR Disclosures to Categorisation
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Sarah Thompson and the Legal Business ESG Report
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CSDDD Receives Council Endorsement
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Fitness & Probity: Looking ahead to the independent review of the Central Bank’s approval process
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Arthur Cox features in The Legal 500 Green Guide: EMEA 2024
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Arthur Cox sponsors Climate Finance Week Ireland 2023
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ESG Newsletter Q2 2023
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Arthur Cox is pleased to support the 20th Annual Stanford Digital Economy Best Practices Conferences
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IAF and SEAR – An Overview with Maedhbh Clancy and Sarah Thompson
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The Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Act 2023 signed into Law
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Individual Accountability Framework: Bill finalised
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Arthur Cox pleased to advise Apex Group on the acquisition of Bank of America Irish depositary business
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COP27: Arthur Cox advises the LSF on their inaugural transaction
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ESG Newsletter Autumn 2022
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TransferMate $70 million Funding Round
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Arthur Cox Appoints New Financial Regulatory Partner
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The Central Bank (Individual Accountability Framework) Bill 2022
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Central Bank of Ireland sharpens focus on operational resilience
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E-Money Institutions and Payment Institutions: Central Bank confirms its supervisory expectations
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SEAR/Individual Accountability: Proposed Privilege “Safe Harbour”
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SEAR/Individual Accountability: Proposed Changes to the Central Bank’s Administrative Sanctions Procedure
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SEAR/Individual Accountability: Minister for Finance publishes General Scheme of Bill
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NPL Update: Central Bank wants “meaningful progress” on long-term PDH mortgage arrears
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SEAR: Draft legislation expected shortly
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NPL Update: Scope of Credit Servicing Directive agreed
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Regulatory Horizon-Scanning: Central Bank priorities for the rest of 2021
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The European Commission’s EU Sustainable Finance April Package
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AML Update: Crypto-Assets – VASPs must register with Central Bank
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Outsourcing: Contractual Requirements – Key points from the Central Bank’s draft cross-industry guidance
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Outsourcing: Risk Assessments and Due Diligence – Key points from the Central Bank’s draft cross-industry guidance
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NPL Update
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Outsourcing: Governance and Monitoring – Key points from the Central Bank’s draft cross-industry guidance
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Arthur Cox Q&A: EU Crowdfunding Regulation
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