central bank of ireland

AIF Rulebook

On 14 March 2018, the Central Bank published the latest version of the AIF Rulebook. The AIF Rulebook is the Central Bank’s rulebook in relation to AIFs which contains chapters concerning Retail Investor AIF, Qualifying Investor AIF, AIF Management Companies, Fund Administrators, Alternative Investment Fund Managers and AIF Depositaries.

The Central Bank has issued guidance on a number of topics to assist users of the AIF Rulebook, including that listed below:

• Publication of regulatory fees and charges for AIFs
• Guidance on redemption terms for property funds
• Publication of national provisions governing marketing requirements for AIFs
• AIF applications for authorisation
• AIFM's/AIF Management company's relationship with the Central Bank
• AIF depositaries
• Amalgamation of retail investor AIFs and qualifying investor AIFs with other investment funds
• Asset valuation for authorised AIF
• Closed-ended AIFs and open-ended AIFs with limited liquidity
• Director time commitment's industry letter
• Disapplication of legislation
• Efficient portfolio management by retail investor AIF
• Existing authorised AIF investing in unregulated investment funds
• Financial derivative instruments for retail investor AIF
• Fund administrators - outsourcing of investment fund administration activities
• Performance Fees of UCITS and certain types of Retail Investor AIFs
• Permitted markets for retail investor AIF
• Professional investor funds - grandfathering arrangements
• Publication of annual and half-yearly reports for retail investor AIF and qualifying investor AIF, as relevant
• Qualifying investor AIFs which invest more than 50% of net assets in another investment fund
• Redemption frequency
• Retail investor AIF: investment policies
• Retail investor AIFs which invest more than 30% of net assets in another investment fund
• Risk spreading for qualifying investor AIFs
• Share class features of closed-ended QIAIFs
• Short-term money market funds for retail investor AIFs and qualifying investor AIFs - valuation on the basis of amortised cost
• Subscriptions into qualifying investor AIFs
• Subsidiaries
• UCITS and AIF management, administration/transfer agent and investment management agreements
• UCITS and AIF third party approval and fund authorisation processes
• UCITS and AIF European Central Bank reporting requirements for money market funds
• UCITS and AIF share class hedging
• Umbrella funds - revised cash accounts guidance

AIFMD Q&A

The AIFMD Q&A sets out answers to queries likely to arise in relation to the implementation of the AIFMD. It is published in order to assist in limiting any uncertainty until definitive positions and practices are finalised. It is not relevant to assessing compliance with regulatory requirements. You should check the website from time to time in relation to any matter of importance to you to see if the position has changed. 

On 4 April 2023, the Central Bank of Ireland published the 47^th Edition of the AIFMD Q&A.

This edition of the Q&A revises ID1145, which considers if a RIAIF or a QIAIF can invest either directly or indirectly in crypto-assets. The revised Q&A does not change the Central Bank’s position in relation to RIAIFs. The Central Bank is increasing limits for indirect exposure to digital assets, depending on the liquidity provided by the QIAIF: where a QIAIF is open-ended it can gain exposure to digital assets of up to 20% of NAV. Where a QIAIF is closed-ended or has limited liquidity it can it can gain exposure to digital assets of up to 50% of NAV. Requirements to avail of this are set out in the revised QA.

In light of the above, the Central Bank has updated the pre-submission process for Qualifying Investor AIFs proposing to invest indirectly in digital assets in excess of what is outlined in the AIFMD Q&A ID1145 or any direct investment in digital assets. Details of what is required as part of the pre-submission is set out here.

See all previous versions of the AIFMD Q&A.