IRELAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Nicholas Blake-Knox, Jonathan Sheehan, Damien Barnaville and Joe Mitchell, Walkers
tively common model, particularly for less active and/or less liquid portfolios. In such cases, the AIFM may establish an investment committee with input from an investment adviser. 2.1.2 Common Process for Setting Up Investment Funds If an AIF is structured as an investment company or an ICAV, it will need to be incorporated or registered with the Irish Companies Registration Office or the Central Bank, respectively, prior to an application being submitted to the Central Bank for authorisation of the fund as a QIAIF. With the exception of open-ended with limited liquidity ELTIFs and certain limited asset classes that require a pre-submission (namely QIAIFs proposing to invest in Irish property assets or seeking certain exposures to digital assets), a fast-track authorisation process is available, under which non-retail AIFs can be authorised by the Central Bank within 24 hours (by close of business on the day after submission of the application for authorisation) of filing the requi - site documentation with the Central Bank. The prospectus, constitutional document and all material contracts being entered into in respect of such fast-tracked QIAIFs or ELTIFs must be submitted to the Central Bank as part of the application for authorisation of the fund. The Central Bank relies on confirmations from the fund’s directors or manager (as relevant) and its Irish legal counsel that the fund complies with the relevant requirements of the Central Bank. Prior to the submission of the application for fast-track authorisation of a QIAIF or an ELTIF, it is necessary to ensure that all service pro - viders have received any requisite approvals from the Central Bank to act for Irish-domiciled funds. This is most relevant for discretionary investment managers that have not previously
provided such services to Irish-domiciled funds. Further details of the clearance process for dis - cretionary investment managers are set out in 2.3.3 Local Regulatory Requirements for Non- Local Managers . The timeframe for the establishment and author - isation of a QIAIF or ELTIF (not subject to any pre-submission requirements) generally ranges between six and 12 weeks, taking into account the various operational steps that need to be completed, such as the onboarding of service providers and the opening of various custody accounts, where required. Sub-funds of an existing umbrella structure can be established more quickly, depending on the circumstances. 2.1.3 Limited Liability Investors in AIFs are generally only liable for any amounts outstanding on partly paid shares or, in a capital call structure, for any amounts commit - ted but not yet called. The losses that an investor will suffer will be limited to the subscription or commitment amount. In addition, umbrella funds have segregated liability between sub-funds, which means that the assets and liabilities of a sub-fund are ring- fenced and such assets cannot be used to sat - isfy the liabilities of another sub-fund. 2.1.4 Disclosure Requirements Irish investment funds are required to provide investors with a prospectus disclosing key information about the investment strategy, the parties involved and the potential risks relevant to investing in the fund. AIFs are also required to provide a key information document (KID) to investors prior to accepting their investment in the fund, in accordance with the requirements of the amended Packaged Retail and Insurance- based Products (PRIIPs) Regulation, where
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