Factsheets

Significant changes to the dynamic of the financial services sector in recent years have shifted the paradigms in how we work. The increased digitisation of the workforce, changes in business models, globalisation, and remote working capabilities have led to a new approach to the delivery of services.

The Central Bank of Ireland (‘CBI’) has recently issued its latest Anti-Money Laundering Bulletin, focussing on the Virtual Asset Service Provider (‘VASP’) sector. In this bulletin, the CBI has provided its observations on a number of significant and widespread deficiencies across authorisation applications received from VASPs where roughly 90% of all applications are not meeting the required standard.

In line with the EU’s ‘Financing Sustainable Growth’ Action Plan 2018, the European Commission adopted a number of delegated acts which will impact (re)insurance undertakings and insurance distributors. These changes will apply from 2 August 2022.

The Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021 (the “Act”) has now been commenced. The orders for the commencement of the Act and the establishment of the Corporate Enforcement Authority were signed by the Tánaiste on 5 and 6 July 2022 respectively. The Act was previously passed by the Oireachtas and signed into law by the President on 22 December 2021.

This is the first article from Grant Thornton in our series on the Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank)’s recovery plan Requirements. This introductory article provides an overview of the key requirements of the legislation, the timelines involved and main topics included in your recovery plan.

A company strike off is a process whereby a company is removed from the Register of Companies and ceases to exist. A company which has been struck off or dissolved can no longer trade, sell assets or make payments.

The Irish Transfer Pricing (TP) rules introduced by Finance Act (FA) 2019 apply to Accounting Periods starting on or after 1 January 2020.

All regulated financial services providers (RFSPs) with a PRISM impact rating of medium-low or above should now be preparing to submit their first outsourcing register using a new online return. The first submission is due by 31 July 2022.

On 14 April 2022, Revenue announced a concession in relation to the Irish tax treatment of Ukrainian citizens who continue to be employed by their Ukrainian employer and who perform their duties remotely from Ireland. We have outlined a summary of Revenue’s treatment of the Irish tax position of Ukrainian citizens who work remotely in Ireland below.

Over the past number of months, two partners from Grant Thornton Ireland have been putting down roots in the USA, with Brian O’Sullivan heading up the East Coast operations from New York City’s Midtown, and Tony Thornbury handling the West Coast business from his office in San Francisco. We spent some time discussing the recent move with Brian and Tony to learn more about their roles in the market and the rationale behind the decision.

While there has been much discussion of sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) factors in relation to the banking sector in recent times, the reality is that much if not all regulatory instruments to date have focused on a subsection of ‘E’; climate change. Several factors have contributed to this including its actual and predicted impacts, political and social momentum, as well as a growing body of research that facilitates quantification of the associated risks

The Individual Accountability Framework regulation is intended to improve executive accountability within the Irish Financial Services sector by increasing the transparency between Regulated Financial Services Providers (RFSPs) and the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI), particularly of where accountabilities lie in organisations. It follows in the footsteps of similar regimes successfully enacted in the UK, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

The proposed legislation follows on from the reforms proposed in the Central Bank’s report on Behaviour and Culture of the Irish Retail Banks published in 2018, which highlighted the shortcomings in the culture of Irish retail banks. The Central Bank has emphasised that there has been a focus both nationally and internationally since the global financial crisis on “strengthening corporate culture, driving positive behaviour and increasing individual accountability”.

Company registers are official books kept by a company relating to legal and statutory matters. They are also referred to as statutory registers, combined registers or company books.

Effective from 1st August 2022, Commission Delegated Directive (EU) 2021/1270 (“new regulation”) requires all UCITS Management Companies (“UCITS Mancos”) to integrate sustainability risks into the management of UCITS.

Revenue has published its new Code of Practice for Compliance interventions. The new Code which will be effective from 1 May 2022 sets out their revised framework for interventions from that date and provides for a new graduated response to taxpayer compliance behaviour and also makes significant changes to many of the rules around voluntary disclosure.