Setting up a fund in Ireland

Choose a fund structure

There are two main categories of funds authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland:

• UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities)
• AIF (Alternative Investment Fund)

Choose a legal structure

UCITS and AIFs may be established as:

• Unit trusts
• Common contractual funds
• Variable or fixed capital companies or
• Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicles (ICAVs)

AIFs are authorised in one of two categories:

1. A Retail Investor AIF (RIAIF) is an AIF authorised by the CBI which may be marketed to retail investors
2. A Qualifying Investor AIF (QIAIF) is an AIF authorised by the CBI which may be marketed to qualifying investors

ICAVs are the most popular fund structure in Ireland. Regardless of the fund structure you choose, our team of experts can guide you through the complete fund authorisation process in Ireland.

The authorisation process for UCITS and AIFs

An application for authorisation of a UCITS and AIF must be made in writing to the CBI. It needs to be accompanied by certain information, including:

• The relevant Central Bank application forms
• Draft fund documents
• Draft letters relevant to the application

Required service providers

The CBI is the authority responsible for the authorisation of funds in Ireland. For all Irish funds, a number of service providers must be approved in advance.

Fund approval

Once the promoter or investment manager have been approved, the final step is obtaining approval for the fund documentation.

An application will be assessed within the below time frames by the CBI.