What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Working in the legal department of a global management company solution provider requires the ability to deal with a wide range of matters, ranging from corporate governance to negotiation of contracts to complex fund structuring, while constantly adapting to global regulatory changes. Due to the international dimension of our firm, our role involves being creative to meet the needs of our clients while ensuring compliance with the local legal and regulatory rules.

We have, in the past twelve months, launched funds in various jurisdictions, through the passporting of our Irish and Luxembourg management companies. We also acquired the business of an existing management company in Luxembourg and Switzerland which resulted in the establishment of Carne Switzerland, our Swiss management company.

In general, what would you like to see change about the external law firms you use?

We want to work with law firms that act as trusted partners, helping us find solutions to both internal and external challenges. This can mean innovations such as more flexible billing practices and the use of technology to actively reduce fees for more high volume but low complexity tasks.

What are some of the main trends in the industry sector you work in in Ireland?

The use of new technology, particularly those linked to management and distribution of financial products. SFDR and ESG considerations continue to impact our regulatory environment, both domestic and internally. That said, the Irish funds sector is renowned for being very resilient and flexible and has proved its ability to adapt quickly to any new business challenges.