The High Court judgment in Friends of the Irish Environment v. An Bord Pleanála (delivered on 9 March 2018 by Meenan J) decided that if a section 5 referral is made by a third party, then the owners and occupiers of the lands must be identified and served with notice of the referral, and given an opportunity to make submissions in accordance with basic fair procedures.
Environmental & PlanningWhat changes have been agreed by the EU Parliament in relation to beneficial ownership rules for Irish companies?
Asset Management & Investment FundsMMFR, GDPR, ESAs report on risks and vulnerabilities, a proposed directive to protect EU whistleblowers and AML/CTF.
Asset Management & Investment FundsDeadlines, Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Bill 2018, new CBI process for RIAIF RMPs and CBI on innovation and technology.
Asset Management & Investment FundsThe European Commission has approved, under the State Aid rules, Ireland's proposed "sugar tax" on sweetened water-based and juice-based beverages
BrexitNew legislation has been passed by the Irish Parliament and will soon be commenced. Irish companies, particularly those doing business in high corruption risk countries, and companies operating in Ireland should be prepared.
White Collar CrimeThe European Parliament has adopted a number of amendments to the proposed 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD), which in turn will amend the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4AMLD) in relation to the beneficial ownership of companies and trusts.
Corporate & M&AIn English v O'Driscoll [2016] IEHC 584 the plaintiff sued a firm of accountants for professional negligence. Without the issue being raised by either party, the trial judge held that the underlying investment scheme was illegal and accordingly, he could not hold that there was professional negligence in such circumstances. The case raises interesting questions regarding the scope of judicial...
DisputesAs of 9 April 2018, there had been 27 merger deals notified to Ireland's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission ("CCPC") which is up 42% from the 19 notifications as of the same date last year. This increase is following a pattern of sustained increases, for example, there had been 72 notifications across the whole of 2017 which was an increase on 2016's total of 67.
On the domestic front, the Central Bank released an analysis of applications for regulatory approval for senior financial roles and the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) (Amendment) Bill 2018, which contains a new licensing requirement for carrying on the business of a "credit agreement owner", entered the first stage of the legislative process. On the European front,...
Financial RegulationFrom a domestic perspective, the Central Bank published Version 7.0 of its Operational and Technical Arrangements for submitting transaction reports to the CBI under MiFIR. On the european front, ESMA has issued an update to its Q&A on practical questions regarding EMIR. It also published trading volumes and calculations regarding the double volume cap (DVC) under the Markets in Financial...
Financial RegulationOn the domestic front, the Department of Finance published its Feedback Statement on transposing the Insurance Distribution Directive and the Central Bank of Ireland published: "Insurance Quarterly". On the European front, a Directive to delay the application of the Insurance Distribution Directive was adopted; EIOPA published a second paper on systemic risk and the EU Commission delivered a....
Financial Regulation
