Financial Services Compliance Support

McCann FitzGerald LLP provides tailored financial services compliance solutions to long standing and newly established, domestic and EU passporting, clients in the financial services sector.

Our team of lawyers and compliance professionals have immense experience providing practical and commercially focused compliance support, delivered with the excellence and integrity for which McCann FitzGerald LLP is well-known.

We combine project-management expertise, legal know-how and a variety of advanced technological platforms, which allows for a project-based pricing system, enabling us to deliver cost-effective solutions without any compromise on quality.

Assisting New Entrants to Market

• Assisting new entrants to obtain necessary licences and liaising with the Central Bank of Ireland (“Central Bank”) and other relevant authorities on behalf of our clients;
• Compliance-checking customer facing documentation and adopting existing documentation for use in Ireland;
• Preparing procedure and process documents and staff handbooks;
• Advising on the appointment and removal of Pre-Approval Controlled functions, Fitness & Probity applications and, where relevant, preparing applicants for interviews with the Central Bank; and
• Company establishment and company secretarial services.

Streamlining Projects

• Implementing strategies for legal / regulatory changes, including changes to business documentation, procedures and processes;
• Reviewing high-volumes of documents using advanced technology-based solutions and subject-matter experts;
• Assisting firms with preparing for, and dealing with Central Bank inspections and Central Bank themed visits;
• Helping firms prepare for changes required to policies and procedures as a result of updates to the Consumer Protection Code;
• Implementing internal frameworks to comply with the Individual Accountability Framework (“IAF”) and Senior Executive Accountability Regime; and
• Providing advice in relation to regulatory investigations (including the Administrative Sanctions Procedure).

Prompt Reporting and Filings

• Establishing and making filings in respect of the Register of Beneficial Ownership and Register of Lobbying;
• Monitoring deadlines by which mandatory reporting must be completed, including implementing reminders and preparing schedules of required information for completion;
• Preparing Acquiring Transaction Notifications to be filed with the Central Bank for entities seeking to directly or indirectly acquire a qualifying holding in a regulated entity;
• Assisting firms in notifying the Central Bank of material changes to the business of regulated entities; and
• Making filings with the Companies Registration Office.

Bespoke Training

• providing bespoke anti-money laundering (“AML”) and countering the financing of terrorism training to all persons involved in the conduct of the designated person's business;
• Offering tailored training on the Digital Operational Resilience Act (“DORA”) to all staff, including members of the management bodies of financial entities;
• Providing required training on the IAF;
• Providing training on director’s duties to the board of directors to refresh and strengthen their understanding of their legal responsibilities; and
• Providing sector specific horizon scanning workshops for regulated entities (including MiFID and insurance firms), staff, executives and the board of directors.

Training can be provided either online or in person and we can provide records of attendance at training for CPD purposes and to meet minimum competency requirements.

Current Knowledge

• Providing monthly or other periodic updates with respect to specified areas of law and regulation to enable firms  to prepare for new laws and regulatory  requirements where applicable.

Assessing ICT and Cyber Security

• Remediating gaps identified during a gap analysis to ensure compliance with DORA; and
• Developing strategies for compliance with the cyber security laws such as Payment Services Directive and NIS 2 Directive (on measures for a high common level of cybersecurity across the European Union).

Assurance Reviews

• Pre-and post-implementation support to provide oversight and assurance of compliance with legislative changes and new regulatory obligations; and
• Annually reviewing policies and procedures to ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, such as the Consumer Rights Act 2022, anti-money laundering legislation and regulatory guidance on outsourcing arrangements.

Flexible resourcing

• We can provide secondees to our long-term clients to assist with staffing gaps or specific projects, which can free up compliance officers’ time to work on other matters.

On-call Access to Bespoke Legal Advice

• Direct access to top-tier legal advice within McCann FitzGerald LLP to support compliance work across all areas of the business, ranging from interpretation of legal and regulatory requirements through to specialist areas such as data protection and tax;
• Leverage the expertise of our Financial Services Regulation team in areas specific to the financial services industry, ranging from compliance with minimum capital requirements to registration as a Schedule 2 Firm for AML purposes;
• Where applicable, our discussions and findings will be protected by legal privilege; and
• Quality service that is lawyer-led and managed which generates efficiencies with respect to advisory work, regulatory reporting and compliance training.

Our Financial Services Compliance Support offerings can be tailored to your needs so please get in touch with us to discuss your specific needs.