IRELAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Vincent McConnon, William Foot, John Adams, Michelle Holligan, Nicole Burke and Graham Bloomfield, Matheson LLP
• transparency requirements on how EuGBS bond proceeds are allocated through detailed reporting requirements – there are pre-issu - ance and post-issuance reporting require - ments in this regard; • all EuGBS bonds must be checked by an external reviewer to ensure compliance with the Green Bond Standard Regulation and that funded projects are aligned with the EU Taxonomy; and • external reviewers providing services to issu - ers of EuGBS bonds will need to be regis - tered with and supervised by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). As well as corporate bond issuers, the Green Bond Standard Regulation is also relevant to the issuers, sponsors and originators of securitisa - tions. In 2022, both the EBA and the European Commission expressed the view that, rather than developing a specific framework for sus - tainable securitisations in the EU, legislators should ensure that the EuGBS is appropriate for use by securitisations. This has been reflected in the final text of the Green Bond Standard Regu - lation, which includes the provision that certain of the EuGBS requirements apply to the origina - tor rather than the issuer. This ensures that rather than being limited to including green collateral at the issuer level, a securitisation may now benefit from looking at the originator’s role in sourcing green assets and still meet the EuGBS. However, the final text of the Green Bond Stand - ard Regulation also confirms that bonds issued for the purpose of synthetic securitisation shall not be eligible to meet the EuGBS. The European Supervisory Authorities will review and report on possible changes to this exclusion by December 2028, subject to which the European Commis - sion may produce a further report and possibly a legislative proposal. The Green Bond Stand -
ard Regulation also contains some exclusions for securitised exposures and additional specific disclosure requirements for securitisations. The EU Capital Markets Union The Eurogroup of EU Finance Ministers (the “Eurogroup”) issued a statement (the “Euro - group Action Plan”) on the Capital Markets Union (CMU) on 11 March 2024, identifying three priority action areas and 13 specific measures to improve the functioning of European capital markets for the EU legislative term running from 2024 to 2029. The CMU is a plan to create a single market for EU capital, with the aim of getting investments and savings flowing across the EU to benefit consumers, investors and companies, regard - less of their location. The Eurogroup has identified the following three priority action areas: • architecture – develop a competitive, stream - lined and smart regulatory system allowing funds to be better channelled into innovative EU businesses, with greater liquidity, risk- taking and risk-sharing together with higher resilience and financial stability; • business – ensure better access to private funding for EU businesses to invest, innovate and grow in the EU; and • citizens – create better opportunities for EU citizens to accumulate wealth and improve financial security by increasing direct and indirect retail participation through access to profitable investment opportunities. The specific measures suggested in the Euro - group Action Plan include the following, which the Eurogroup requested that the European
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