Practice Areas

In an environment of increased regulatory focus, our Financial Services Regulation practice provides practical, commercial and strategic advice for financial services businesses operating in Ireland. We advise a wide variety of domestic and international institutions on their obligations under Irish and EU financial services law and regulation and we work closely with our clients to ensure compliance is achieved in the most effective manner.

The range of services we provide in this area includes advising new entrants to the Irish financial services market, supporting clients through the relevant authorisation process with the Central Bank of Ireland, advising on regulatory matters as their businesses evolve, reviewing existing practices and procedures to ensure compliance and providing training to client compliance and risk management teams on a complete range of regulatory issues. We currently represent significant international banking and insurance operations in Ireland, as well as a range of investment firms, asset managers, fund service providers, e-money and payment institutions, money transmitters, money lenders and brokers.

We advise and assist clients in dealing with the evolving regulatory environment to enable them to proactively respond to new circumstances and we have specific experience in addressing a wide range of issues with the Central Bank of Ireland on behalf of clients. Our team also includes lawyers with specialist financial services dispute resolution experience, enabling us to represent clients in both an advisory capacity and in contentious matters.

Our lawyers work closely with the financial services industry in Ireland. We have Committee involvement in the Irish Funds Industry Association, are founding members of the Electronic Money and Payments Association in Ireland and our lawyers regularly speak on regulatory developments at industry events.

Specific experience includes advising on the following:

• successful authorisations of a wide range of financial services entities in Ireland;
• merger and acquisition transactions in the financial services industry, involving successful regulatory approval;
• transfers of insurance policies involving court schemes of arrangement;
• regulatory capital requirements;
• compliance with anti-money laundering obligations including the Third Anti-Money Laundering Directive;
• derivative transactions and prime brokerage arrangements;
• consumer credit and consumer protection matters;
• the introduction of the bank guarantee scheme and NAMA;
• product offerings to comply with Irish securities law and Prospectus Directive requirements;
• potential market abuse situations;
• authorisation under, and compliance with MiFID regulations;
• the impact of the introduction of the Second E-Money Directive and the Payment Services Directive;
• investigations conducted by the Central Bank and its administrative sanctions procedure;and
• financial services dispute resolution.

Our People

• Fionán Breathnach
  Head of Department
  
• Mark Browne
  Partner
• Paul Convery
  Partner