MiFID II - Irish Developments

(i) Central Bank publishes a second edition of the Central Bank Investment Firm Regulations

In July 2017, the Central Bank issued a Consultation Paper 111 ("CP 111") on the Second Edition of the Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations concerning certain proposed changes to the Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations (S.I. No. 60 of 2017), including certain changes arising from the European Union (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2017 (S.I. No. 375 of 2017) (the "MiFID II Irish Regulations 2017").

On 21 December 2017, the Central Bank published its second edition of the Central Bank Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48(1)) (Investment Firms) Regulations 2017 (S.I. No. 604 of 2017) ("Revised Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations") The Revised Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations took effect on 3 January and revoked:

  • S. I. 60 of 2017 (the existing Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations 2017);
  • S. I. 105 of 2015 (the existing Investor Money Regulations); and
  • S. I. 104 of 2015 (the existing Client Asset Regulations).

These provisions have now been incorporated into Part 6 and Part 7 of the Revised Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations. The Central Bank also noted in its CP 111 that certain matters relating to the client assets regime and the Investor Money Regulations which to date have been addressed in guidance have now been put on a legislative footing in the Revised Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations.

The Central Bank has advised that the Revised Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations "consolidate into one location all of the requirements which the Central Bank imposes on certain investment firms, fund service providers and market operators and includes changes related to MiFID II".

As a reminder, UCITS management companies and AIFMs which have extended MiFID authorisation under Regulation 16(2) of the UCITS Regulations and 7(6) of the AIFM Regulations must comply with the Client Asset requirements in respect of such additional activities. The Central Bank has confirmed that they will issue guidance on Part 6 (relating to Client Asset Requirements) and Part 7 (Investor Money Requirements) but that pending the issue of such guidance, the current guidance will continue to apply.

A copy of the Revised Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations can be found here and a copy of CP 111 can be found here.

(ii) Central Bank publishes the fourth edition of its Investment Firms Q&A

On 2 January 2018, the Central Bank published the fourth edition of its Investment Firms Question & Answers ("Q&As"). The Q&As contain an amendment to question ID 1001, deletions of question ID 1014 and ID 1025 and new questions ID 1032-1037:

  • Question ID 1001: This question contains an amended list of firms to which the Revised Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations apply;
  • Question ID 1032: This question relates to timing for submission of management/annual accounts;
  • Question ID 1033: This question relates to the requirement for a firm to submit an annual outsourcing return where it does not engage in outsourcing;
  • Question ID 1034: This question relates to a firm's requirement to include details of activities which have been outsourced to another legal entity, where these activities were never previously carried out directly by the firm in Ireland;
  • Question ID 1035: This question relates to the update of existing documentation as a result of the integration of the Client Asset Regulations and the Investor Money Regulations into Parts 6 and 7 of the Revised Central Bank Investment Firms Regulations;
  • Question ID 1036: This question clarifies that the auditor performing client asset examination / investor money examination need not be the same entity as the auditor of the financial statements of the investment firm or fund service provider; and
  • Question ID 1037: This question relates to the reporting requirements of client assets through publication in a secured area of a firm's website.

A copy of the Investment Firms Q&A fourth edition can be found here.

(iii) Central Bank publishes update on technical reporting arrangements for transaction reporting under MiFIR

On 8 March 2018, the Central Bank published an updated version of its operational and technical arrangements relating to transaction reporting under MiFIR. The document sets out the operational and technical arrangements for submitting transaction reports under MiFIR to the Central Bank systems. The Central Bank notes that these instructions should be read in conjunction with the reporting instructions that are published on the European Securities and Markets Authority's ("ESMA") website.

The document can be accessed here.

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