Practices

Asset Management and Investment Funds

Our expertise:

Our Asset Management and Investment Funds Group brings together legal, regulatory, derivatives, stock exchange listing, corporate governance, tax and business advisory expertise. Our clients include a wide range of fund managers and fund service providers, including some of the largest investment managers in the international and domestic funds markets.

We provide a full range of legal, company secretarial and regulatory services to Irish authorised funds and their managers.  We also advise, administrators, depositaries and seed investors in those funds.

We have in-depth, specialist experience in areas including UCITS, structured products, ETFs, alternative investment funds (both retail and qualified), money market funds, managed account platforms, hedge funds, closed-ended funds, private equity funds and real estate funds (including REITs).  

Our group advises extensively on the structuring and establishment of investment funds of all types and structures.  We have acted as project managers and legal advisers for the establishment of a number of complex and innovative structures and are regularly at the forefront of developments in the funds industry. Our “firsts” include being one of the first Irish law firms to advise on:

• Complex UCITS funds
• Irish-domiciled ETFs
• Alternative investment fund manager authorisations
• Managed account platforms
• The redomiciliation of a Cayman Island fund by way of continuation
• Closed-ended funds
• Investing by an Irish fund in China A-shares

We regularly advise our clients on the full complement of regulatory requirements impacting on investment funds. This encompasses advice on fund management company governance issues, including, fitness and probity and related requirements.  We advise clients on remuneration policies and practices, risk, valuations and conflicts policies and procedures, tailored advice on anti-money laundering requirements and cyber security requirements.  

We have extensive experience in advising on all aspects of supervisory engagement ranging from reporting requirements to themed inspections, regulatory investigations and administrative sanctions.  We also provide fund registration and passporting services in the context of UCITS and alternative investment funds.  

We also offer a dedicated investment funds company secretarial service and other compliance services to support funds and management companies through our Corporate Secretarial & Compliance Services Group.  

Key areas:

Derivatives

We have significant experience in advising major Irish and international financial institutions and corporates on derivatives including in particular in relation to EMIR. We are advisers to many of the leading industry associations and are Irish counsel in respect of diverse industry standard documents, such as ISDA, GMRA, OSLA and GMSLA.  We have also taken a proactive role in relation to the legislative and regulatory requirements applicable to derivatives and other capital markets transactions.

Listing  

We provide Stock Exchange listing services for investment funds, as well as debt and derivative securities, through the firm's subsidiary, McCann FitzGerald Listing Services Limited, which is an approved listing sponsor at the Irish Stock Exchange.

Tax Expertise

Our firm, uniquely among Irish law firms, has a specialist tax division within our Finance Group which advises on all Irish tax aspects of financial services transactions, including investment funds. Our tax colleagues advise on all of the tax implications relating to investment funds themselves, the establishment of the Irish management company as well as the tax consequences for fund investors.

Industry Involvement

We are at the forefront of regulatory developments through our participation in industry representative bodies, including Irish Funds (IF), as well as the Taoiseach’s IFSC Funds Legislative Group. Most notably, Mark White served as a member of the IF’s Council from 2012 – 2015 and currently is chair of the IF’s Private Equity Working Group; Tony Spratt is Chair of the IF’s AIFMD Working Group.  Iain Ferguson is Chair of the Front Office Working Group and is a member of the IF’s ETF Working Group since its formation.  Through our industry participation, we played a leading role in the development of the ICAV, Ireland’s bespoke vehicle for investment funds.  We are also regular speakers and contributors at IF and IBA events in London and North America.