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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.