Segregated Liability For Irish Investment Funds

1. Introduction

The Investment Funds, Companies and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 2005 (hereafter referred to as the "2005 Act") was signed into law on 30th June, 2005. The 2005 Act provided for a number of significant developments in the Irish funds industry, including:

1. The provision of cross investment between sub-funds of the same umbrella, where the umbrella is structured as an investment company.

2. The introduction of a Non-UCITS CCF fund structure.

3. The introduction of segregated liability at sub-fund level for investment companies which are structured as umbrella funds.

2. Segregated Liability

Prior to the commencement of the 2005 Act, the position of an Irish umbrella investment company under Irish law was that although separate books, accounts and records were kept for each sub-fund and while assets and liabilities remained attributable to each sub-fund, the company