In Start Mortgages v Kavanagh [2019] IEHC 216, the High Court confirmed that, where legal proceedings had commenced, it was not necessary for a company to make a formal application to court to reflect its change in status from a limited liability company to a designated activity company under the Companies Act, 2014. The point arose in the course of proceedings taken by Start Mortgages for p...
Corporate & M&AThe European Union (Anti-Money Laundering: Beneficial Ownership of Corporate Entities) Regulations 2019 came into force on 22 March 2019, with the exception of Part 3 (which deals with the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership and which will come into force on 22 June 2019). See here for more detail. We are re-issuing this In Focus paper to clarify that PPS numbers are not required to be, a...
Asset Management & Investment FundsThe EDPB has released new draft guidelines 2/2019 on the contractual necessity legal basis for processing personal data in the context of the provision of online services to data subjects. The guidelines emphasise the narrow scope of the contractual necessity legal basis. A controller must be able to demonstrate that the processing is ‘objectively necessary’ for a purpose that is ‘integral’ to...
Commercial & TechnologyOn 3 April 2019, the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality met to discuss the implementation of the GDPR with Ms Anna Morgan (Deputy Commissioner), Ms Jennifer O’Sullivan (Deputy Commissioner), and Mr Cathal Ryan (Assistant Commissioner). The Commissioners discussed a range of issues, including the enforcement powers used by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) post-GDPR, the difficulties wit...
Commercial & TechnologyIn Morris v. Ryan [2019] IECA 86 (Court of Appeal, Whelan J, 22 March 2019) the Court of Appeal affirmed the order of the High Court dismissing the Plaintiff's defamation claim on the basis that it was statute barred, and also affirmed the Isaac Wunder Order imposed, restraining the Plaintiff from instituting any further proceedings against the Defendant, or any parties or companies associated...
DisputesThe much-anticipated text of the Government's Gender Pay Gap (GPG) Information Bill (the Bill) has now been published. In amending the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015, the Bill envisages that the Minister for Justice and Equality (the Minister) will make additional regulations that will require certain Irish employers to report and publish details of both their GPG and gender bonus gaps. In...
EmploymentOn the domestic front, Brexit is unsurprisingly the dominant theme. The CBI has published several speeches and interviews communicating their determination to be Brexit-ready in the event of no deal being struck between the European Union and the United Kingdom. Other items of note are the CBI's continuing efforts to promote diversity in the financial services market, and to address technologic...
Financial RegulationCost of Insurance Working Group (CIWG) publishes latest progress update On 4 March 2019, the CIWG published its Eighth progress update on the Action Plan of the Report on the Cost of Motor Insurance. This update concentrates on the status of all the recommendations from that Report. It also reports on progress in implementing the recommendations in the Report on the Cost of Employer and Public...
Financial RegulationOn the domestic front, the Central Bank of Ireland published updates to its Q&As on Investment Firms. On the European front, ESMA has published two relevant documents relating to MiFID II and MiFIR, including updates to its Q&As relating to commodity derivative topics...
Asset Management & Investment FundsOn the domestic front, the Central Bank (CBI) published updates to its AIFMD and Brexit Questions and Answers documents. The Central Bank has also announced that it will permit investment in Chinese banks via Bond Connect by Irish UCITS and AIFS. On the European front ESMA proposed amendments to the PRIIPS KID requirements in respect of MOPS. ESMA has also published updated Q&As on UCITS and AI...
Asset Management & Investment FundsOn the domestic front, the Central Bank (CBI) has published its Approach to Resolution for Banks and Investment Firms, which provides insight on to how the CBI might exercise its powers in the event of a resolution scenario as well as how institutions should approach resolution planning. There have been some notable developments on the EU front, including the publication of some ann...
Financial RegulationMark Ward, Head of M&A, provides an overview of private mergers and acquisitions in Ireland. First published in the 'Practical Law -Global Guide 2018' by Thomson Reuters.
Corporate & M&A
