Minister’s Brief

An amendment to the Solvency II Delegated Act came into effect on 1 April 2016 and relates to
investment by Insurance undertakings in infrastructure projects and European Long Term
Investment Funds (ELTIFs)
o
Public consultation on Venture Capital
EuSEF/EuVeCa: EU Social Entrepreneurship Funds Regulation (EuSEF) sets out a new
“European Social Entrepreneurship Fund” label, so investors can identify funds that focus on
investing in European social businesses and the EU Venture Capital Regulation (EuVeCa) sets
out a new “European Venture Capital Fund” label, so investors can identify funds that focus
on investing in European ‘start-up’ businesses. The Commission have indicated an early
review of these instruments as CMU action point. Commission consultations on-going
o Prospectus Directive Proposal
The Commission published a proposal for a Regulation on November 30 2015. Council Working
Party meetings commenced in January 2016. The Dutch Presidency aim to secure a Council
agreement by the end of their term.
o
Public consultation on Covered Bonds
Although various EU Directives refer to covered bonds, there is no single EU framework that
governs covered bond laws across the EU. Most Member States have national regulations
setting out the general requirements for issuers, public supervision and the provision for ringfencing
of assets in the event of bankruptcy. The European Commission believe there is good
reason to explore the case for an EU covered bonds framework. The Commission view is that
a comprehensive EU covered bond framework, establishing a ‘gold standard’ based on the
best EU practices, could potentially address the main regulatory differences that complicate
investment in and trading of EU covered bonds, facilitate more efficient functioning of
markets for these instruments and foster further integration in capital markets, and improve
investor protection, market transparency and liquidity. Ireland has the thirteenth largest
covered bond market in the EU now, at €43bn.
o Crowdfunding
The Department is engaging in ongoing EU level meetings on the future development of
crowdfunding nationally and in the EU.
o Barriers to the free movement of capital in the EU
The Department participates in this strand of CMU and is seeking to improve the rules concerning
the dual listing of stocks in order to create a more vibrant Irish equities market.
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