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Gareth Murphy, director of markets supervision at the Central Bank of Ireland, which oversees more than 6,000 funds, said fund companies will want to “establish a foothold” in the EU in the event of the UK voting to leave when it goes to the polls in June.
“The firms we regulate and their counterparts in the UK are faced with a considerable period of uncertainty if Brexit were to happen,” he said. “We are envisioning that there will be quite a few possible applications for authorisation in this jurisdiction.” [...]
International asset management companies are expected to be among the first financial services groups to shift operations to Ireland if Britain chooses to leave the EU.
Several asset managers, including M&G Investments, the £246.1bn UK-based asset manager, have already indicated they are either considering moving or are in the process of boosting their presence in Dublin ahead of the EU referendum. [...]
Asset managers fear they would no longer be allowed to sell funds that are regulated in the UK into Europe in the event of a Brexit, forcing them to move the products to hubs such as Luxembourg and Dublin.
There are also concerns that UK-based investment staff would no longer be allowed to run funds that are registered and overseen elsewhere in Europe. [...]
The Irish financial regulator last week sent a letter to a small number of large investment companies, fund depositaries and administrators, asking them to explain how Britain leaving the EU would affect their Irish operations.
When asked about the letter, the central bank said: “The impact of a Brexit on the Irish financial sector, and all regulated firms, could be significant if it occurred in a disorderly manner or had a large negative impact on the UK economy.”
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