Key Updates To Ireland's UCITS Regulatory Framework

• Published date: 17 July 2026
• Subject Matter: Finance and Banking, Corporate/Commercial Law, Financial Services, Fund Management/ REITs, Compliance
• Law Firm: Walkers
• Author: Mr Nicholas Blake-Knox, Damien Barnaville, Aongus McCarthy, Emmet Quish, Claire Winrow and Joe Mitchell

On 10 July 2026, the Central Bank of Ireland (the Central Bank) introduced a number of changes to the domestic UCITS rules and performance fee guidance. These reforms follow the CP161 consultation process, which ran from September to November 2025 (as outlined in our previous briefing), and should further strengthen Ireland's position as a leading domicile for retail investor products.

The Central Bank's amendments are set out in the following:

• CP161 Feedback Statement;
• Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48(1)) (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 316 of 2026) (the "2026 CBI Regulations"); and
• Revised Guidance on Performance fees of UCITS and certain types of Retail Investor AIFs (the "Performance Fee Guidance").

The new 2026 CBI Regulations and Performance Fee Guidance follow on from the transposition of AIFMD II (Directive EU 2024/927) into Irish law earlier this year by way of the European Union (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I. No. 182 of 2026) (the "UCITS Transposing Regulations"), as well as the recent enactment of the European Union (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026 (S.I. No. 289 of 2026).

What are the main changes?

Performance fees

The 2026 CBI Regulations and Performance Fee Guidance introduce several key changes, including: a new frequency of crystallisation...