Irish legal and regulatory update - 1 January 2020 to 31 March 2020

The second Shareholder Rights Directive (EU) 2017/828 has now been implemented into Irish law by way of a statutory instrument and has come into operation on 30 March 2020. On 25 February 2020, the CBI published a Notice of Intention recommending additional Pre-Approval Controlled Functions and the splitting of the six Designated Person roles. On 29 January 2020, the CBI updated its UCITS Q&As with the new question of whether or not a UCITS can invest in Contracts for Difference, Collateralised Loan Obligations, Contingent Convertible Securities or binary options. The CBI will be the state authority delegated with responsibility for establishing and maintaining a central register of beneficial owners for ICAVs and unit trusts.