European Union: Financial Services

The Central Bank of Ireland has completed its comprehensive review of delegation practices across the Irish funds sector, examining how fund management companies oversee delegated activities while maintaining regulatory compliance. Through detailed surveys and onsite inspections, the regulator assessed governance frameworks, risk management controls, and data capabilities, identifying both strengths and areas requiring immediate improvement by year-end 2026.

The European Commission has released a comprehensive report outlining its reform agenda to address fragmentation in the EU banking market, simplify regulatory frameworks, and strengthen the international competitiveness...

EU-headquartered credit institutions lending to Irish aviation and asset finance sectors through non-EU branches face questions about whether new CRD VI authorisation requirements apply to their operations. This analysis examines the regulatory framework's impact on cross-border lending structures and explores whether the location of a branch affects compliance obligations for institutions whose head offices remain within the European Union.

The EU Retail Investment Strategy introduces sweeping reforms to the retail investor protection framework, fundamentally changing how UCITS management companies and AIFMs assess costs...

Ireland has transposed the EU's Distance Marketing of Financial Services Directive II into national law through new regulations that fundamentally reshape how financial services firms must interact with consumers online. The European Union (Distance Contracts for Financial Services) Regulations 2026 introduce stringent pre-contractual disclosure requirements, mandatory online cancellation functions, and explicit prohibitions against manipulative interface design. Digital financial service providers must now

Luxembourg's financial regulator, the CSSF, has established rigorous standards for crypto-asset service providers seeking market access under MiCAR, with particular emphasis on operational substance...

The Central Bank of Ireland has published comprehensive new regulations for UCITS, introducing significant changes to liquidity management tools, performance fee structures, and disclosure requirements. These reforms align Ireland's supervisory framework with the UCITS VI Directive while incorporating updated guidance on performance fees that will impact both UCITS and Retail Investor AIFs.

The purchase of newly constructed or off-plan properties without a separate title deed has long been a common feature of the Cyprus real estate market. Although this practice is widely adopted in property transactions, it understandably creates a degree of uncertainty for buyers, as the completion of the transaction and the full vesting of their ownership rights are contingent upon the issuance and transfer of a separate title deed into their name.

The enhancements are the result of an extensive and collaborative industry consultation which closed in November 2025 and follow on from the publication of the European Union (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 to implement the Amending Directive, which came into effect on 1 May 2026.