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Irish Central Bank to clarify KIDs reporting obligations for UCITS funds


The Central Bank of Ireland is planning to clarify new reporting obligations for Irish investment firms that produce or sell packaged retail investment and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs), according to a legal expert, ahead of a fast-approaching deadline.

The EU’s PRIIPs Regulation introduced a mandatory key information document (KID) for all packaged retail and insurance-based investment products, which are made available to retail investors in the European Economic Area. The standardised documents make it easier for retail investors to compare products to each other and require firms to consider how their products will fare when distilled down to a uniform product description.

Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) funds are currently exempt from the PRIIPs KID requirement, and can continue to issue a key investor information document instead. The exemption, however, is set to end on 1 January 2023, when UCITS funds will be required to prepare a PRIIPs KID for applicable products. 

Gayle Bowen of Pinsent Masons said that the Central Bank was planning to clarify its reporting obligations for Irish UCITS in relation to PRIIPs KIDs with a new information document ahead of the January deadline. “Officials, who will publish the document in a matter of weeks, are expected to announce that there will be no annual reporting of the PRIIPs KIDs to the Central Bank in 2023. Instead, the first annual reporting exercise taking place in 2024,” Bowen said.

Áine Ní Riain of Pinsent Masons welcomed the expected clarification. She said: “As the industry finalises its KIDs ahead of the 1 January deadline for UCITS funds, this announcement will be welcome and will assist managers with planning in terms of filings and timeline management.”

But Bowen warned that while guidance on the reporting obligations would be useful for firms, “there is still uncertainty in the industry as to what constitutes ‘making available’ to retail investors means, and it would be helpful to also have clarity on this from the Commission”.

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