IRELAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Vincent McConnon, William Foot, John Adams, Michelle Holligan, Nicole Burke and Graham Bloomfield, Matheson LLP
Matheson LLP 70 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay Dublin 2 Ireland Tel: +353 1232 2000 Fax: +353 1232 3333 Email: dublin@matheson.com Web: www.matheson.com
Introduction In 2024, renewed political support for a well- functioning EU securitisation market contribut - ed to a positive year for capital markets across Europe. The securitisation markets proved resil - ient to the various challenges in 2024, and with the anticipated “maturity wall” for many secu - ritisation refinancings due in 2025, the authors expect a busy year ahead. Meanwhile, regulatory evolution continued apace in 2024. This article will explore some of the main legal and regulatory developments that impacted the securitisation market in Ireland in 2024 and that are likely to further impact this market in 2025. As a major hub for securitisation activity in the EU, the legal framework in Ireland tracks both EU and domestic Irish legislation. The impact of new and proposed EU laws and regulations on Irish issuers of securitisation debt, and which will be of interest to market partici - pants generally, are considered below. The firm also advised on the Irish tax implications of such structures, and on the listing of debt securities on various stock exchanges throughout 2024 – although such matters are outside the scope of this article. Credit Servicing Directive The Directive on Credit Servicers and Credit Pur - chasers (Directive (EU) 2021/2167; the “Credit
Servicing Directive”) applies to the sales and ser - vicing of non-performing loans (NPLs) issued by a credit institution established in the EU. Ireland transposed the Credit Servicing Directive via the European Union (Credit Servicers and Credit Purchasers) Regulations 2023 (the “Credit Ser - vicing Regulations”) on 21 December 2023, with an effective date of 30 December 2023. The Credit Servicing Regulations clarify a few important points as part of the transposition of the Credit Servicing Directive under Irish law, as follows. • A purely domestic regime for credit servicing firms under Part V of the Irish Central Bank Act 1997 (as amended; the “Credit Servicing Firms Regime”) has been in force in Ireland since July 2015, and the Credit Servicing Firms Regime remains in force following the transposition of the Credit Servicing Direc - tive into Irish law. The Credit Servicing Firms Regime operates alongside the new regime under the Credit Servicing Regulations – effectively creating two parallel regulatory frameworks. The Credit Servicing Firms Regime continues to apply to matters and agreements not expressly covered by the scope of the Credit Servicing Regulations. • There are two separate authorisation regimes for credit servicing in Ireland. The first is the
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