Market Intelligence

This monthly legal update from William Fry curates essential articles covering Ireland's Budget 2027, new EU child safety regulations for online providers, data asset monetization in insolvency proceedings, mandatory retirement age reforms, small modular reactor deployment challenges, crypto custody resilience requirements, pay transparency directive delays, public works contract adjustments, and planning development regulation changes.

A recent High Court claim in England & Wales has placed risk-to-life evidence on a collision course with investigative journalism, raising fundamental questions about when psychiatric evidence of self-harm risk can justify permanently restraining media publication. The case, which involves an unnamed claimant seeking to prevent two major news outlets from publishing investigated allegations, will test whether Article 2 ECHR rights can override Article 10 freedom of expression in the context of serious publi

The European Commission has amended clearing thresholds for OTC derivative contracts under EMIR 3, introducing new calculation methodologies that will fundamentally change how Financial Counterparties and Non-Financial Counterparties assess their clearing obligations. These regulatory changes, effective November 10, 2026, shift the framework from an exchange-traded versus OTC distinction to one based primarily on uncleared transaction levels, requiring counterparties to reassess their clearing status and op

The Central Bank of Ireland has published draft guidance that fundamentally reshapes how regulated firms must approach third-party risk management, moving beyond traditional outsourcing to encompass all material dependencies. This consultation paper addresses persistent supervisory concerns around governance frameworks, concentration risk, intra-group arrangements, and exit planning while introducing a more flexible, outcomes-based approach organized around five lifecycle stages.

Irish fund management companies face critical regulatory deadlines through 2027, including UCITS framework updates, delegation oversight requirements, and the transition to T+1 settlement. New performance fee methodologies, enhanced risk management expectations, and evolving ESG disclosure obligations reshape operational and compliance landscapes for Ireland's investment funds sector.

Private equity sponsors and Irish businesses are increasingly turning to preferred equity and hybrid capital instruments as flexible financing tools. This article examines how these sophisticated capital structures work, their key commercial terms, and why they have become mainstream alternatives to traditional bank debt and ordinary equity across multiple asset classes including corporate buyouts, infrastructure, energy, real estate, and technology sectors.