Lending & Secured Finance 2018

Ireland

1 Overview

1.1 What are the main trends/significant developments in the lending markets in your jurisdiction?

Alternative finance continues to be a developing sphere in the Irish lending market. Alternative lenders are very active; in particular, in the Irish real estate finance space. Crowdfunding is an area of increasing interest. Although not currently regulated in Ireland, the European Commission has proposed a pan-European regulatory regime for crowdfunding in its 2018 work programme and is due to bring a proposal for an EU framework on crowd and peer-topeer finance for discussion in March 2018. Beyond the foregoing, domestic and cross-border loan and financing activity levels are high - especially in some sectors, like aviation, where Ireland has particular dominance and expertise.

There have been notable legal/regulatory developments too - for example, the establishment of the Central Credit Register, a new centralised system for collecting personal and credit information on loans.

The impact of Brexit on Ireland, while yet unknown, could present significant opportunities for the Irish lending market. This is so particularly given Ireland's common law system and its geographic location, being close to Britain and mainland Europe, which make it an attractive destination for international banks, currently operating out of the UK, which want to maintain an EU presence post-Brexit.

1.2 What are some significant lending transactions that have taken place in your jurisdiction in recent years?

As already noted, transaction activity levels have been healthy across a range of asset-classes. Real estate finance has been particularly strong with the full spectrum lenders (traditional banks, debt funds, etc.) and transaction types (e.g. commercial/residential, development/investment, etc.). One landmark transaction, in which Dillon Eustace acted for the purchaser/borrower, was the financing of the newly planned EXO building, which - when constructed - will be Dublin's tallest office building. Transaction numbers in the loan sales space - which has been a major focus for the past number of years - were lower in 2017 but 2018 looks set to be a very busy year. One noteworthy transaction in 2017 was Proteus RMBS DAC, which is a securitisation of the residential mortgage portfolio of Danske Bank in Ireland in which Dillon Eustace acted for the significant investor. The transaction is significant because of its size (1.8 billion approx.), the...