UCITS and AIF Third Party Approval and Fund Authorisation Processes

Investment Managers

  1. Investment managers or sub-investment managers which are one of the following entities will not usually be subject to an additional regulatory review process by the Central Bank:
    1. UCITS management companies authorised under Directive 2009/65/EC;
    2. Investment firms authorised under Directive 2004/39/EC (MiFID) to provide portfolio management;
    3. Credit institutions authorised under Directive 2006/48/EC having the approval to provide portfolio management under MiFID; or
    4. externally-appointed AIFMs authorised under the AIFMD.
  2. Applicants should ensure that details of the proposed investment manager and email contact details for the relevant regulatory authority are provided to the Central Bank in sufficient time to enable verification of its home Member State approval. This will not be necessary if the entity is on a relevant passport register maintained by the Central Bank. Investment managers located in Ireland should have an appropriate authorisation.
  3. Firms which are not one of the entities listed in paragraph 1 will only be considered where the competent authority in the home jurisdiction of the investment manager has signed an MOU with the Central Bank of Ireland in accordance with AIFMD or the UCITS Directive, as applicable. In addition, such firms will be subject to a review process which requires completion of the Investment Manager Application Form.
  4. Where the firm is regulated in a jurisdiction not considered to-date by the Central Bank, it should be demonstrated, by way of a formal submission, that the regulatory regime for asset management in the relevant jurisdiction is comparable to the model of prudential regulation applicable to firms included in categories (a) to (d) above. The Central Bank has accepted the following jurisdictions as having a comparable regulatory regime:
    Australia; Bahamas; Bermuda; Brazil; Canada; Dubai; Guernsey; Hong Kong; India; Japan; Jersey; Malaysia; Singapore; South Africa; Switzerland; and the United States.

Investment Advisers

  1. The Central Bank will not apply an approval process to investment advisers provided that the manager/directors of the Retail Investor AIF/Qualifying Investor AIF/UCITS confirm that the advisers in question will act in an advisory capacity only and will have no discretionary powers over any of the assets of the Retail Investor AIF/Qualifying Investor AIF/UCITS.
  2. The Central Bank will not carry out a formal review of the investment advisory agreement provided that the management company/directors of the Retail Investor AIF/Qualifying Investor AIF/UCITS confirm that the agreement does not:
    1. provide for any discretionary management powers;
    2. conflict with regulations and conditions applicable to Retail Investor AIFs/Qualifying Investor AIFs/UCITS
  3. Investment advisory agreements should be submitted to the Central Bank, in order to facilitate reference in the event of issues arising.

Issued: 3 July 2013