Asset Management & Investment Funds Q&A: Aug 2019
Question:
Are Irish Funds required to appoint audit committees?
Answer:
No.
In general, Irish funds are not obliged to appoint audit committees.
There is one exception to this general rule.
UCITS
- which are structured as companies and
- whose shares are not listed on a regulated market of a Member State
are required (under Section 167 of the Companies Act, 2014) to either
- appoint an audit committee or
- explain, in their directors' report, why they have not done so
The position for UCITS PLCs whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market of a Member State (such as Euronext Dublin) changed with effect from 21 September 2018. By virtue of the Companies (Statutory Audits) Act 2018 (which inserted a new section 1551 (18) into the Companies Act, 2014), UCITS PLCs whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market of a Member State are exempt from the requirement to have an audit committee.
Please speak with your usual contact on the A&L Goodbody Asset Management & Investment Funds team for more detail on this complex topic.
Date published: 3 September 2019