Following a review of the Irish funds industry and wide engagement with industry participants, discussed in our earlier blog here, the Department of Finance has issued its Final Report on the Funds Sector 2030. The report sets out the Irish government’s framework and recommendations to enhance growth in the funds sector and maintain Ireland’s prominent position. 

The report is extensive and recommends that:

• To support the growth of ETFs, the Central Bank should (1) keep under consideration its requirements regarding portfolio transparency and recognise alternative approaches and (2) engage on fund naming requirements at an EU level to ensure a harmonised approach.
• To support the growth of private funds, the Central Bank should review its requirements and their impact on the private funds space, and that a package of measures be taken to improve the attractiveness of the Irish investment limited partnership, which includes various tax measures. 
• The Central Bank should conduct regular reviews of its fund authorisation process, including its pre-submission and enhanced scrutiny processes. 
• For fund management company authorisations, the Central Bank should consider its requirements regarding senior management staff to ensure they remain effective and proportionate.
• There should be a public consultation on options for an entity level tax for Irish Real Estate Funds.
• The Central Bank continues to engage regularly with industry on new product developments and initiatives, and cites the recent roll out of the new Irish ELTIF regime (see here) as a good example of this. 
• The tax regimes applicable to Irish funds be simplified, including removing the eight-year deemed disposal requirement. 
• A framework be established for regular engagement between industry, the Irish Government, the Central Bank and various industry bodies who promote Ireland as a jurisdiction.