Feedback Statement on Exchange Traded Funds Published

• Increased flexibility in Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) share class arrangements introduced
• Retention of daily portfolio disclosure requirement at this time
• Ongoing dialogue with stakeholders via domestic, European and international workstreams.

The Central Bank has today published a Feedback Statement in relation to Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).  This Feedback Statement is in response to the Central Bank’s Discussion Paper 6 –Exchange Traded Funds (DP6), which was published in May 2017.

The Central Bank focused on ETFs to ensure that this fund type and any inherent risks are understood. Ireland is the largest European centre for ETFs and these are the fastest growing type of investment fund globally. The global ETF market continues to see significant growth in assets under management (AUM). AUM was circa US $4.6 trillion at the end of 2017.

The Central Bank undertook this initiative in order to highlight areas where further regulatory consideration and discussion is warranted.  The responses received to DP6 provided a good insight into the design features, dealing mechanisms and operating models that exist in the global ETF environment today, and what implications these may have for ETFs, particularly in stressed market conditions. This feedback will inform the Central Bank’s approach in the ongoing debates in European and international policy forums.

The quality and depth of the stakeholder feedback reflected the substantial time and effort taken by market participants.

Arising from this review, there are a number of regulatory outcomes for Irish ETFs:

1. Different dealing times will be permitted for hedged and unhedged share classes within the same ETF;
2. Investment funds can establish both listed and unlisted share classes within a single fund structure, subject to disclosure requirements; and
3. There will be no change in the requirement to have daily portfolio disclosure at this time.

Gerry Cross, Director of Policy and Risk stated: “This exercise has been extremely useful to further the debate, both domestically and internationally, in relation to ETFs. We regard the publication of this feedback statement as a continuation of this discussion and not the conclusion of our work. We remain firmly of the view that where regulatory change is needed, it is most effective when implemented on a consistent basis. This is why we will continue to actively contribute and collaborate within Europe and at IOSCO, seeking progress on the issues identified as part of DP6.”

Notes

An ETF is an investment fund which is not only admitted to trading on a regulated market but is also actively traded on the stock exchange or other markets.

Discussion Paper 6 - Exchange Traded Funds is published on the Central Bank website.

26 responses were received to DP6 and these were published on 14 August.

The Central Bank hosted a conference - Exchange Traded Funds, Stability and Growth –in November 2017.