Waystone

This week, the Central Bank of Ireland issued its letter which laid out its findings, now that the fund management companies (FMCs) thematic review has been finalized. This letter provides further guidance following various deficiencies that were highlighted during the 18 month review period. Conor MacGuinness, Global Head of Onboarding and Relationship Management at Waystone, shares our firm’s views on the findings of this letter.

We were pleased to be joined by James Kattan, Director and Head of Regulatory Compliance Services in the Cayman Islands.  James provided listeners with further background regarding the requirements of the law and the ways in which funds can ensure that they are in compliance.  Should you wish to find out more how DMS can help, please reach out to James directly following the podcast at [email protected].  

Following DMS’ recent acquisition of Oligo Swiss Fund Services, the audience was informed more about our Swiss distribution offering. The focus of the webinar focused on the recent changes seen to the regulatory framework in Switzerland and what this means for distribution strategy and sales of Swiss funds.

The agenda included:

• Market perspective and appetite of Asia managers who wish to distribute funds in Switzerland.
• The type of funds that can be marketed in Switzerland.
• The type of investors in Switzerland that foreign funds can offer.
• Professional investors vs Private investors.
• What needs to be done to offer foreign funds to respective investors in Switzerland?
• Update on the new Swiss regulatory framework.
• Can funds rely on reverse solicitation.
• How is Cayman perceived as a fund jurisdiction among Swiss investors?

Panelists included: Matteo Risoldi and Luis Pedro from Oligo Swiss Fund Services
Moderated by: Matthew  Brown 

Anne Storie interviewed Genna Garver earlier this month, a partner at Troutman Sanders in the Investment Management group.  Genna provides advice to investment advisers, hedge funds and other private investment funds with various investment strategies. She is a highly sought-after speaker and author and regularly presents at industry events on various aspects of securities law. 

She is also actively involved in numerous women’s and diversity initiatives in the financial services industry and is an active participant in 100 Women in Finance, the Investment Adviser Association, and the National Association of Compliance Professionals.  

Genna leads a number of diversity efforts at her firm and more recently, part of a COVID-19 task force which they discuss in further detail.  The conversation features: 

• A discussion on the ‘new normal’ as a professional in the financial services industry
• The issues facing clients and Investment Managers
• How service providers are adapting in the current climate
• How the Financial Crisis compares then and now 

John D’Agostino was pleased to be joined by Panayiotis Lambropoulos, Portfolio Manager at the Employees Retirement System of Texas

This is a first in a series of interviews with allocators in the alternatives industry, how they approach the industry, what their views are going forward, given the current environment that we live now live in.

DMS Governance were pleased to join together with Sadis & Goldberg and Dillon Eustace as they discuss what opportunities they are seeing in the marketplace and ways in which non-U.S. managers can tap into the U.S. markets. 

The panel discusses factors that result in EU managers looking to other jurisdictions, and they will be joined by tax and regulatory experts who will discuss various types of structuring and regulatory implications. 

Panelists included leading governance, legal and regulatory experts from the U.S. & Ireland:

David Morrissey, DMS Governance
Ron Geffner, Sadis & Goldberg
Donnacha O'Connor, Dillon Eustace
Seth Lebowitz, Sadis & Goldberg
Dan  Viola, Sadis & Goldberg
David Lawless, Dillon Eustace

Join Niall O'Dowd, Executive Director and Leader for the DMS Governance Economic Substance team.  Niall is based in the Cayman Islands and works closely with our teams globally to ensure that clients needs are met when it comes to the latest Economic Substance requirements.  Find out more in our DMS Quick Take what the Cayman Economic Substance Law means for your fund and how DMS can help you comply. 

Niall McNamara and Frank Dowling, leaders of our aviation team were joined by industry experts:

Phil Bolger, Strategic Adviser, Aircraft Leasing & Finance, Deloitte
Heinrich Loechteken, Chief Executive Officer JP Lease     
Gary Fitzgerald, Chief Executive Officer, Stratos              
Greg Byrnes, Chief Financial Officer, White Oak              

The panel discussed the impact seen on the aviation industry in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and covered the following topics:

• How will public confidence be restored in air travel?
• Will the impact of Covid-19 be temporary?
• Can airlines repair their balance sheets'?  
• Lessor management of airline lease waiver requests: What options do they have?
• How are governments supporting airlines in different jurisdictions? Can it be done without distorting competition?
• What other supports / solutions are available to the industry?

Our APAC audience were joined by Lori-Webb Griffith and Josephine Barron to learn the best industry practices to comply with Cayman AML regulations.  Lori addressed Cayman AML issues and questions that are frequently and commonly asked by fund managers in Asia.

John D'Agostino was given a brief overview on UK economic policy response to Covid-19 by representatives from the UK Consulate in New York who went over policy steps taken to date which are helping to provide a framework to follow the UK Government’s economic policy approach to address the Covid-19 pandemic.