Central Bank publishes Central Bank UCITS Regulations

The Central Bank has today, 5 October 2015, published the Central Bank UCITS Regulations ¹. They will come into effect on 1 November 2015.

The Central Bank UCITS Regulations consolidate into one location all of the requirements which the Central Bank imposes on UCITS, UCITS management companies and depositaries of UCITS. They supplement existing legislative requirements, in particular the European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2011. UCITS is an EU-wide regime for the authorisation of retail investment funds and their managers.

Director of Policy and Risk Gerry Cross said: “The publication of the Central Bank UCITS Regulations marks a significant milestone for the Central Bank. It is the first time that we have issued investment fund rules in the form of Central Bank regulations. This will assist investment fund providers by bringing additional clarity and certainty to the rules applied by the Central Bank. We will shortly commence a review of the Central Bank’s AIF Rulebook to see whether it should also be issued as Central Bank regulations.”

Notes:

Further information on UCITS.

For the most part, the rules in the Central Bank UCITS Regulations are the same as the conditions set out in the Central Bank’s UCITS Notices but a small number of policy changes are included. The Central Bank UCITS Regulations contain rules for UCITS investment funds, UCITS management companies and UCITS depositaries. These rules cover matters such as investment restrictions, prospectus disclosures and organisational requirements.

The Central Bank consulted publically on the proposed policy changes and on the rules which it imposes on UCITS, UCITS management companies and depositaries of UCITS in CP77 – Consultation on publication of UCITS Rulebook. A public consultation was also undertaken on proposed revisions to UCITS collateral diversification requirements in CP84 – Consultation on adoption of ESMA’s revised guidelines on ETFs and other UCITS issues. The outcome of both consultations is reflected in the Central Bank UCITS Regulations. The responses to both consultations together with the feedback statements have also been published today.

The Central Bank UCITS Regulations represents the first time that the Central Bank has issued its investment funds rules in the form of Central Bank regulations and so the preparation of the Central Bank UCITS Regulations has been a significant undertaking. In addition to attending to drafting matters, the Central Bank also engaged actively with industry to identify and address areas of potential uncertainty. As a result, a considerable period of time has elapsed since the closure of the public consultations on CP77 and CP84 and today’s publication. It was necessary to take that time to ensure that the final Central Bank UCITS Regulations were comprehensive and accurate.

The Central Bank has restructured its UCITS guidance to reflect the publication of the Central Bank UCITS Regulations. The restructured UCITS guidance is available on the Central Bank website and will also come into effect on 1 November 2015. The current UCITS guidance will remain on the Central Bank website until that date and will be removed thereafter.
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¹ Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48(1) (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2015