We specialise in getting firms authorised to do business in and from Ireland. We also obtain authorisations for clients internationally, including Australia.
The types of firms we have assisted and those we can assist obtain authorisations include:
Authorisation with Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority
- Investment Services Firms
- authorised under The European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1287/2006 of 10 August 2006 (see also www.mifid.ie)
- authorised under Investment Intermediaries Act 1995
- Financial Spread-Betting
- Fund Administrators
- Mutual Funds / Management Companies
- Custodians/Trustees
- Credit Institutions
- Insurers
- Insurance Intermediaries
- Mortgage Intermediaries
- Retail Credit Intermediaries
- Payment Institutions
- Money Transmission Firms
- Bureaux de Change
- E-Money Institutions
- Others
Registration with Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform under Anti-Money Laundering law
- Casinos (Private Members' Clubs)
- Trust & Company Service Providers
- Other 'designated persons' under Criminal Justice (Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing) Act
What is the Authorisation / Registration Process?
Our services include performing all aspects of an Authorisation and/or Registration application; working with a client’s other service providers; reviewing/vetting applications drafted by others to assess the quality of the application; drafting compliance and operating policies and procedures; and/or to provide non-executive director services.
Regulatory Advice –we advise on which Authorisation application best suits a client’s business model. There maybe a number of Authorisation options open to clients. We have even advised clients on how to modify their business models to fall outside regulatory scope.
Jurisdiction – Ireland is a pro-business jurisdiction and offers immense opportunities for applicants doing business in and from Ireland. However we understand that some aspects of Ireland’s regulatory, company law and tax environment may not suit all businesses. Being independent we will act in our client’s best interest to identify alternative jurisdictions within the European Union and further afield more suitable to the client.
Feasibility – we assist firms undertake an assessment of the current and potential future regulatory regime. We will assess how the regime may impact upon a client’s working capital, cash flows and cost of doing business in Ireland versus expected benefits, such as client’s customer base growth and (of course) revenue streams.
Authorisation / Registration Process – once the decision is made to get Authorised we provide the following:
- Company/Business Incorporation
- Facilitation and Communication:
- meetings and correspondence with the Financial Regulator and industry bodies (e.g. IDA Ireland and professional/trade bodies). For those requiring registration under anti-money laundering laws, these meetings are held with the Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform
- introduction to others who can assist your business start-up - including accountants, lawyers, estate agents, serviced offices, non-executive directors and company secretarial support. Depending upon the extent of our relationship with a client we may also be able to provide non-executive director services
- registration with other government bodies, e.g. Data Protection Commissioner, Department of Justice, Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment
- Documenting and drafting clients’:
- Authorisation / Registration Application
- Regulatory Business Plan
- Governance Policies and Procedures
- Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Financing of Terrorism Policies and Procedures
- Day-to-day Operating procedures
- Compliance Manual
- Annual Compliance Plan
- Risk Matrix / Risk Register
- Risk-based Compliance Monitoring Programme
- Responses to further queries from the Financial Regulator
- Governance / Business Arrangements:
- Board and Board Committee composition and responsibilities
- Front Office, Middle Office and Back Office segregation and control
- Other balance and checks structures
- Capital Adequacy arrangements, regulatory capital issues and ICAAP
- ‘EU Passporting’ notifications
Why use Compliance Ireland
- We are independent and our business focuses upon regulatory compliance. We are not an accounting firm – so there is no fear that we will perform Authorisation work as way in to sell you expensive accounting and audit services. We are not a law firm with a regulatory compliance unit/subsidiary – so we cannot use the Authorisation process as a means of selling separate legal services. This means that you get a quality Authorisation service at an affordable price. The fees you pay are not about the headline rates, but rather what you get and more importantly what you do not get (but should get) for your money.
- We have experience across all types of Regulatory Authorisations.
- The directors of Compliance Ireland are the owners of Compliance Ireland. We do not win your business and then pass it over to junior staff or to staff in areas where the workflow is quite (e.g. audit, funds, risk, commercial, property). The people who own this business do your business! Compliance Ireland’s people are qualified in law and accountancy. We have worked as directors of financial services businesses. We serve as non-executive directors of financial firms (so it is a case of practising what we preach). Our people have worked at regulators, including the UK FSA and Australian Securities and Investment s Commission. We maintain an excellent relationship with the Financial Regulator.
- We are flexible. It maybe that you wish to use another trusted service provider (e.g. lawyer / accountant) to file your application but you may want us to give a second opinion, focus on one particular area (e.g. capital adequacy) or provide template manuals.
- We provide an open and honest client experience. We publish lots of free information on our websites and, unlike others, we upload onto our website the contents page of the various compliance documents you may need. Click here to see our MiFID and AML/CFT sample documents.
- We operate specialist industry websites such as www.mifid.ie, www.antimoneylaundering.ie and www.privacy.ie. This is in addition to the extensive library of regulatory documents and newsletters we make available on our Resources page
Contact us:
Phone Peter Oakes or Kevin O'Doherty on +353 1 425 5962
Click here to go to our Consulting Page
Click here to go to our Home Page
See the bios of:
What type of work do we do?
Click here to read our Case Studies/Assignments
Recent Assignments
- Helping clients with MiFID
- Helping clients with the Capital Requirements Directive
- Read our brochure on a selection of recent assignments by clicking here
Director Services announced
- Read about our Director Services here
Affiliated websites
- Our anti-money laundering website - www.antimoneylaundering.ie
- Our MiFID Ireland website - www.mifid.ie
- Our Data Protection Privacy website - www.privacy.ie