Fintech hub to expand as MICA takes effect
Ireland’s advantages as a base for e-money institutions are explained in a McCann FitzGerald briefing note.
Some of the firms are home grown, and others are drawn to Ireland by its active and thriving fintech sector.
These include:
- Strong regulatory framework with a credible and experienced regulator in the Central Bank,
- Favourable passporting regime,
- Favourable tax regime, with a standard 12.5% corporate tax on revenues less than €750 million annually, plus comprehensive double tax agreements, and
- Access to a sophisticated financial services ecosystem of staff, managers, professional advisers, regulators and service providers including a sizeable international population.
Regulatory Framework
E-money is regulated under the European Communities (Electronic Money) Regulations 2011 which transpose the E-Money Directive 2009/110 into Irish law, without any significant additional national measures (gold-plating).
Once the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) becomes fully operational this year, with new rules for stablecoins, including e-money tokens, opportunities will expand, the lawyers write.
Applicants to become authorised as an e-money institution under Irish law must show that they will have substance in Ireland, have a viable business model, and be adequately capitalised.
The Central Bank wants applicants to show that their “heart and mind is in Ireland with for example:
- Senior management team with strength and depth, overseen and directed by a strong board, and
- Organisation structure and reporting lines which ensure there is appropriate separation and oversight of all activities.
Those running core functions should be permanently based here, the lawyers add.