minister of state simon harris addresses the irish funds annual conference, 11 june 2015
TRANSCRIPT
Minister of State Simon Harris Addresses the Irish Funds Annual Conference, 11 June
2015
In his keynote speech at today's Irish Funds (IF) Annual Global Funds Conference in Dublin, Irish
Minister of State with responsibility for International Financial Services Simon Harris re-iterated the
Irish Government's support and commitment to the Irish funds industry, and he highlighted its recently
published strategy paper for the Irish international financial services sector, IFS2020.
Reflecting on Ireland’s position as the fastest-growing economy in the EU last year, and the European
Commission’s forecast for the same again this year, Minister Harris noted that the decision to
establish or service an investment fund in Ireland is based on a unique combination of the Irish legal
and regulatory system, the specialist skills and expertise of its workforce, a pro-business approach,
infrastructure, tax environment and government support.
Commenting on the importance of Ireland's competitive offering, Minister Harris emphasised that
IFS2020 recognises the importance of building on Ireland's existing strengths in talent, technology,
innovation and excellent client service, while focusing on capturing new opportunities in a changing
market and embracing the highest forms of governance.
Central Bank Update
Mr Gareth Murphy, Director of Markets Supervision at the Central Bank of Ireland, also spoke at
today's conference on a number of matters including corporate governance, the NAV calculation
process, the AIFMD third country passport, Capital Markets Union and market finance. With respect
to aspects of fund corporate governance, the Central Bank has decided not to impose a hard limit on
the number of Irish resident board directorships which an Irish resident director may hold.
Instead, the Central Bank will apply a two-staged assessment: where an individual director has an
aggregate professional time commitment in excess of 2,000 hours per year, the Central Bank will then
consider whether there are 20 or more directorships being held. Pursuant to the Central Bank’s risk-
based approach, where this two pronged assessment indicates that fund governance standards on the
relevant boards may be undermined, this will attract additional Central Bank supervisory attention.
Mr Murphy noted that the Irish funds industry has a substantial population of over 2,000 active
directors with a broad range of expertise and that, amongst this population, there is a strong level of
commitment to pursue high ethical standards and directorial responsibility.
The Central Bank intends to issue further guidance on directorships in the coming days, and
Matheson will keep you updated. In addition, Mr Murphy confirmed that the Central Bank will provide
2
feedback on the consultation on fund management company and self-managed investment company
effectiveness (“CP86”) which issued in September 2014 regarding control over the activities of
delegates and corporate governance. In advance of this, Mr Murphy confirmed today that the
following points will be published in the CP86 feedback statement:
the Central Bank will clarify the meaning of the designated person role - a fund governance
concept which has been in existence since 2003 but which has evolved as a result of
regulatory change and industry practice; in particular, the Central Bank will make it clear that
designated persons are responsible for managerial functions in the fund management
company; and
the Central Bank will confirm that these managerial functions have been streamlined to six key
areas covering (i) investment portfolio management, (ii) investment risk management, (iii)
distribution, (iv) operational risk, (v) capital and financial management and (vi) compliance.
After careful consideration, the Central Bank has decided that the “organisational
effectiveness” role which was consulted on will not be a managerial function, but rather is a
task that must be performed by one of the independent directors.
ETFs and Other Developments
In relation to other developments and areas of key focus at today’s Irish funds industry annual
conference, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) were topical, with Matheson partner Philip Lovegrove
chairing a panel on regulation of the ETF industry in Europe and Ireland. The panel discussed the key
aspects of financial regulation which will impact the rapidly growing ETF space, noting that, as the
presence of ETFs within investment management expands, there is an increasing tendency for major
pieces of broad market legislation, such as MiFID II, to address certain aspects of ETFs. The panel
also considered Stock Connect in the context of ETFs.
In attendance was Matheson partner Tara Doyle, an elected member of the governing Council of the
Irish Funds Industry Association (IFIA). Tara welcomed the formal announcement this morning that
the IFIA will from now on be known as "Irish Funds", with a new website launched which may be
accessed here.
Matheson would be happy to discuss any aspect touched upon in this summary with you in further
detail. Should you have any enquiries generally regarding the Irish legal regulatory requirements
applicable to the corporate governance for fund management companies, or in relation to investment
funds, please get in touch with us.
Full details of the Asset Management and Investment Funds Group, together with further updates,
articles and briefing notes written by members of the Asset Management and Investment Funds team,
can be accessed at www.matheson.com.
3
The material is provided for general information purposes only and does not purport to cover every
aspect of the themes and subject matter discussed, nor is it intended to provide, and does not
constitute, legal or any other advice on any particular matter. The information in this document is
provided subject to the Legal Terms and Liability Disclaimer contained on the Matheson website.
Copyright © Matheson.