Insights

The global economic crisis that resulted as a consequence of the pandemic has stressed the relevance of prioritising sustainability pillars within financial services.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) is implementing a new policy strategy regarding institutions’ Pillar 3 disclosures. The new Pillar 3 disclosures aims to promote transparency and enhance institutions’ management of Environmental, Social or Governance (ESG) risks. The EBA is encouraging institutions to foster an awareness of the important role ESG risks play in the transition to a greener economy.

Firms that are in scope of the AIFMD, UCITS and MiFID regimes need to become familiar with the changes that are applicable to their business activity and analyse how they will comply with the new obligations. Firms will need to review and update their existing business plan, systems and policies to incorporate the concept of sustainability into their daily operations.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is beginning to provide tangible guidance to financial institutions as to how climate change and environmental risks should be managed within an organisation.

The Non-Financial Reporting Directive (Directive 2014/95/EU) (‘NFRD’) is currently in place, and is the forerunner to the proposed Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

On 26 June 2021, the European regulatory authorities introduced new legislation, referred to as the Investment Firms Regulation EU 2019/2033 (‘IFR’) and Investment Firms Directive EU 2019/2034 (‘IFD’), which aims to establish a tailored prudential framework for investment firms.

The Investment Firms Regulation EU 2019/2033 (IFR) and Investment Firms Directive EU 2019/2034 (IFD) establishes a tailored prudential framework for investment firms.

On June 5th, the European Securities and Markets Authority (‘ESMA’) published final guidelines on the MiFID II compliance function. The revised Guidelines replace the ESMA guidelines on the same topic issued in 2012. Due to MiFID II reinforcing the existing MiFID I requirements relating to the compliance function, rather than introducing a completely different regime, ESMA has chosen to build upon the text of the 2012 guidelines rather than replace entirely.

European regulatory authorities have introduced new legislation, referred to as the Investment Firms Regulation EU 2019/2033 (‘IFR’) and Investment Firms Directive EU 2019/2034 (‘IFD’), which aims to establish a tailored prudential framework for investment firms. For most investment firms, they were required to comply with the Captial Requirements Regulation (CRR), which was originally designed for large and complex banks and trading institutions.

The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a revised Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems (NIS 2 Directive).

The Irish Investment Limited Partnership (ILP) structure is a regulated partnership structure that is authorised as either a Qualifying Investor Alternative Investment Fund (QIAIF) or Retail Investor Alternative Investment Fund (RIAIF) that will appeal to global investments managers and promoters in particular for Private Equity, Private Credit, Real Estate, sustainable finance and infrastructure assets.

The Investment Firms Regulation EU 2019/2033 (IFR) and Investment Firms Directive EU 2019/2034 (IFD) establishes a tailored prudential framework for investment firms. The new prudential regime applies to investment firms that not systemic by virtue of their size and interconnectedness within the wider financial system, i.e. primarily Class 2 type firms (see the classification criteria in our previous publication). Small and non‐interconnected investment firms may receive regulatory requirement exemption from the competent authorities.