New Approach to ISE Fees

The Irish Stock Exchange (“ISE”) has announced that issuers of CLO/CDO/CBO securities will now be required to chose one of the following two options:

1. pay a capped upfront payment of €10,000 in respect of annual fees; or
2. include wording within the offering document which provides for designation of ISE annual listing fees at the top of the “waterfall” in the Priority of Payments section. The relevant wording should make specific reference to ISE annual listing fees and it cannot be assumed that such fees are covered within “administrative expenses”.

As you may be aware, the ISE currently provides for two payment options: an annual payment of €2,000 per annum or an up-front payment of €10,000. If the up-front option is chosen, the payment of €10,000 is non-refundable even if the notes are redeemed earlier than anticipated at launch. Accordingly, for the avoidance of doubt, the annual fee payable to the ISE remains unchanged; however, the manner in which such fees are collected is changing.

The ISE has confirmed that this requirement will be applicable to all new CDO/CLO/CBO submissions to the Main Securities Market and the Global Exchange Market received on or after 1 September 2015.