By Mark Crossan, Bridge Consulting – Irish Funds are on the move again. Every couple of years there is a new product evolution. In 2015 we had the introduction of the ICAV (Irish Collective Asset Management Vehicle) and 2018 is shaping up to be no different. Not only could this year be the year that Ireland gets its eagerly awaited revamped Investment Limited Partnership (ILP) structure, but it looks like other changes are afoot as well.

By Gayle Bowen & Aongus McCarthy, Pinsent Masons – Under new rules implemented by the Central Bank of Ireland (“Central Bank”) last month, Irish Loan Originating Qualifying Investor AIFS (“L-QIAIFs”) are now permitted to adopt broader credit focussed strategies. Previously L-QIAIFs were prohibited from engaging in any activities other than lending and ancillary related operations.

Ireland’s investment funds industry shows no sign of slowing with total AUM reaching EUR2.4 trillion by end of 2017. That’s a 16 per cent growth year-on-year and represents a new high watermark for the jurisdiction, as alternative fund managers continue to set up UCITS and QIAIFs.

Calls from Guernsey for greater mutual recognition of financial regulatory standards have been endorsed in a new report from an independent think tank.

Boutique investment bank Liberum Capital, is using TeleWare’s mobile communications recording technology to ensure teams across the bank are compliant with the record keeping requirements of the recently introduced MiFID II legislation as well as the forthcoming GDPR regulation.

Guernsey’s fund sector is expecting increased interest in its Private Investment Fund following a change in its rules and guidance.

Changes are being made to Guernsey’s Private Investment Fund (PIF) regime following a one-year review undertaken by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC).

Global regulation has developed like a slow growing but increasingly powerful storm system over the last five years. And whereas big wave surfers welcome such conditions thanks to the epic waves it produces, there are, it could be argued, precious few C-suite executives relishing the equivalent regulatory waves being cast ashore. 

Changes to regulation, proposed today by the European Commission, could limit future funding prospects for one-in-four companies seeking private equity investment, says Invest Europe.