Central Bank of Ireland publishes Markets Update No 12 of 2026

In July 2026, the Central Bank of Ireland (the Central Bank) has published a number of its Markets Updates, in which it sets out alerts of interest to Irish regulated firms and other market participants.

These are

• Issue No. 11 of 2026 (published on 3 July)
• Issue No. 12 of 2026 (published on 10 July)
• Issue No. 13 of 2026 (published on 17 July) and
• Issue No. 14 of 2026 (published on 21 July).

However, in this summary, we look only at the item contained in Issue No. 12, which we think will be of significance to our clients.
For our summaries of the previous issues, please see the right-hand column of this page.

Feedback Statement to CP161 and Central Bank UCITS Regulations and Performance Fee Guidance

The Central Bank published CP161 in September 2025.

This contained proposals to amend the Central Bank’s UCITS Regulations and its Guidance on performance fees for UCITS and certain types of Retail Investor AIFs. Our summary of the CP can be found here.

Markets Update No. 12 of 2026 notes that the Central Bank has now published its Feedback Statement to the CP.

In light of the responses it received, the Central Bank has decided to (among other things)

• amend some definitions to align fully with the UCITS Regulations and ESMA’s Guidelines on Performance Fees
• clarify and amend certain provisions in the new requirements for liquidity management tools (LMTs) so these align with terminology used in the Amending Directive
• retain its proposed requirement that the responsible person of the UCITS must consider selecting at least one anti-dilution tool and one quantitative-based tool from Annex IIA of the UCITS Directive
• clarify that the responsible person will need to ensure that the depositary verifies procedures have been effectively implemented so any performance fees payable and accrued are calculated in line with the UCITS’s constitutional document and prospectus
• delete the provision which requires UCITS to disclose existing “pro forma” standardised language in relation to anti-dilution levies and
• introduce a prospectus disclosure requirement for NAV-based fees.

The Central Bank has also published updated versions of its

• UCITS Regulations and
• Guidance on Performance fees of UCITS and certain types of Retail Investor AIFs.

The Central Bank notes that it has made a number of drafting amendments to the Guidance on Performance Fees so the provisions are consistent and aligned with the new Central Bank UCITS Regulations and the ESMA Guidelines on Performance Fees.

Markets Updates Nos. 11, 13 and 14

For the sake of completeness:

Issue No. 11 contains the following two items:

• Transparency Regulations: New Submission Requirements for OAM Filings - European Single Access Point (ESAP)
• Short Selling Regulation: New requirements for entities registering with the Central Bank - European Single Access Point (ESAP)

Issue No. 13 contains the following item:

• ESMA reminds firms of existing rules and obligations under binary option measures amid growing popularity of prediction markets globally

Issue No. 14 contains the following two items:

• Publication of the Amendment Regulations (S.I. No. 322 of 2026), containing amendments to European Single Access Point (ESAP) Regulations (S.I. No. 33 of 2026).
• ESMA calls on firms to finalise preparations ahead of T+1 settlement deadlines.