Maples Advises on First Irish Funds to Invest in Crypto Assets
Maples and Calder (Ireland) LLP, the Maples Group’s law firm, is pleased to have advised the first Irish regulated funds to be granted permission by the Central Bank of Ireland (“CBI”) to take exposure to crypto-assets. The approval will enable two Qualifying Investor AIFs (a category of alternative investment fund which is restricted to professional investors) to obtain indirect exposure to Bitcoin, by acquiring cash-settled Bitcoin futures which are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
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This is the first approval of its kind since the CBI published guidance in August 2021 which opened the door to the possibility of Qualifying Investor AIFs investing in crypto-assets, and it follows an extensive bilateral engagement with the CBI to demonstrate how the risks associated with the proposed investment could be adequately addressed.
Commenting on the approval, Adam Donoghue, co-head of the firm’s Irish Funds & Investment Management practice said: “We are really proud to have acted on this exciting and innovative approval, which is a breakthrough development for the Irish funds industry. Our clients are seeing significant demand from institutional investors to be able to allocate to cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, so it is extremely positive that the Irish regulatory framework now accommodates this rapidly emerging asset class.”
The firm’s Irish Funds & Investment Management practice has acted on many of the most innovative deals in the Irish funds market in recent years, including the first investment limited partnership to be approved under the recently enhanced legislative framework and the first mutual fund conversion to an ETF. The practice, recently ranked as the leading legal adviser to Irish-serviced funds for the 9th consecutive year by Monterey Insight, includes 16 partners and over 50 investment fund specialists based in Dublin, London, Hong Kong and the Cayman Islands.