The Irish office of leading international law firm, Maples and Calder, ("Maples") is delighted to announce the first registration with the Central Bank of Ireland ("CBI") of an Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle ("ICAV"), following the enactment of the Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicle Act 2015 (the "ICAV Act").

PMAP ICAV

The Permal Group, a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately US$22 billion under management, is launching the ICAV as the Permal Managed Account Platform ICAV (the "PMAP ICAV").

PMAP ICAV will now seek formal authorisation from the CBI as an internally managed umbrella AIF with segregated liability between sub-funds. As an AIFMD compliant and regulated platform, it will complement the Permal Group's existing British Virgin Islands ("BVI") managed account fund range. The intention is to transfer accounts, totalling initially almost US$4 billion, to the PMAP ICAV.

In order to provide legal, regulatory, tax advice and fiduciary services across a diverse range of fund and manager locations, the Dublin, BVI, Cayman Islands, London and Hong Kong offices of the Maples group worked closely with the Permal Group advising on both the establishment of the PMAP ICAV, the transfer of assets and restructuring of the BVI platform. The Maples team in Dublin was led by Peter Stapleton and Ian Conlon, with Tim Clipstone and Heidi de Vries leading the BVI team.

Peter Stapleton, Investment Funds Partner in Maples' Dublin office commented: "We were delighted to be instructed by Permal and have the chance to work with them on this ground-breaking project.

Many of our clients and their international counsel have expressed a strong interest in the ICAV structure and we expect that the PMAP ICAV will be the first of many ICAVs registered this week and for strong growth to continue later this year. ICAV will offer international managers and institutions an additional option for structuring regulated, AIFMD compliant and best-in-class fund products from Ireland.

"It is a strong endorsement of the new regime that the first ICAV registration should be such a significant platform and we are confident that there will be many others, including clients we are also advising. I would also like to commend the respective teams at the IFIA, the CBI and Department of Finance for the work involved drafting the legislation and implementing the regulatory regime which will benefit the entire industry."

The registration of the first ICAV follows a series of notable firsts for the Maples' Dublin office including advising on: (i) the establishment of the first Irish investment limited partnership for private equity; (ii) authorisation of the first cross-border AIFM in Ireland; (iii) the first Irish UCITS authorised by the CBI to Invest 100% in China A Shares under China's RQFII Scheme; and (iv) the first loan origination QIAIF.

About ICAV

The ICAV is a new form of Irish corporate vehicle which has been specifically designed for investment funds. The principal advantages of the ICAV include its own specific legislative regime, increased efficiencies on administrative and maintenance costs, ability to "check-the-box" for US tax purposes and that separate accounts for each sub-fund within an umbrella structure may be prepared.

For more information on ICAV, please visit our website: www.maplesandcalder.com/expertise/investment-funds/eu-regulated-funds/irish-collective-asset-management-vehicle/

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.