Our people

Jeanne-Marie Moriarty

Partner, Financial Regulation
Ireland

Expertise

Jeanne-Marie Moriarty is our Financial Services and Regulatory Partner. Jeanne-Marie is a qualified solicitor and barrister with a wealth of commercial and practical expertise and experience across the Financial Services sector. She has gained significant in-house experience from her previous roles as the Head of Legal and Compliance for Aon Consulting, together with leading the legal functions within Bank of Ireland Private Banking Ltd and Bank of Ireland Insurance & Investments Ltd, and more recently as the Head of Litigation and the Principal Lawyer Regulation and Funds, for Bank of Ireland Group. For the past two years she was the Financial Services and Regulation Partner at Beauchamps LLP. She has a wide range of financial experience on the retail (consumer), payments and financial markets/banking side, including many complex financial regulatory regimes, a broad variety of Investment Funds, and CBI Corporate Governance and Administrative Sanction Frameworks.

Experience

Implementation of high profile regulatory change projects for a leading Irish Credit Institution including MiFID II, MiFIR, AIFMD, UCIT’s PRIIP’s, IDD, CP86, and IFD/IFR. Design, implementation and monitoring of internal controls, polices, and procedures for management entities to ensure appropriate compliance with on-going regulatory requirements. Devising frameworks to evaluate legal, regulatory & compliance risk to enable Senior Management business teams transform internal risk management practices.
Leading and influencing the defence litigation strategies and mitigations for the Material litigation financial services portfolio of a premier Irish Bank. Insightful guidance and understanding of how high profile/high value commercial banking disputes should be managed strategically to appropriate conclusion.
Instrumental in drafting the Regulatory Road Map to enable a large Credit institution to navigate its route to Surrender and ultimate Revocation of its Irish Section 9 Banking License under the Central Bank Acts1942 - present. Provision of key advices on retail banking issues requiring a consumer protection lens as a priority including, repayable funds, dissolved company funds, disposal strategy for litigation, dormant accounts, unclaimed bank drafts, safe keeping items. Interpretation and analysis of SSM EU Regulations, relevant EU primary and delegated regulations, EBA Reports and Opinions, and the EU SRB Guidance on Solvent Wind-down of Banks. Strategic guidance on sensitive matters such the possibility of seeking an alternative license for residual regulated activities, alternative options available to the Executive Committee of the Bank other than License hand-back, and the CBI requirements (CBI Consumer Protection Regime and Dear CEO letter guidance) regarding the treatment of customers to ensure they are treated fairly and never prejudiced, and potential risks are mitigated particularly in the case of Vulnerable Customers.
Comprehensive advices to various regulated financial services providers in each of the three pillar areas of CBI regulatory focus, Authorisation, Supervision and Enforcement.

Non-Contentious

Authorisation: Advices on the CBI Authorisation processes and application requirements for new entities, whilst also advising entities wishing to expand and/or amend post authorisations. Advices Post Brexit to UK entities seeking guidance on how to navigate CBI Authorisation processes following loss of EU passporting rights. Advices to EU entities in other Member States on their ability to utilise passporting rights into Ireland and other EU Member States.
Supervision: Advising Senior Leadership Business Teams on compliance with CBI Corporate Governance matters including Fitness & Probity, the requirements of the enhanced Individual Accountability Frameworks (SEAR and Conduct Standards), conduct and consumer protection risk with emphasis on the development and assessment of their SERP (Supervisory Review and Evaluation) Frameworks and Operating Models. Assisting clients in preparing for Supervisory Inspections, and Reviews including carrying out reviews of process and procedures to cover issues such as MiFID Suitability, Client Asset Requirements etc. (Clients including European Companies with an Irish Branch, Authorised Alternative Investment Managers, Global Alternative Asset Managers)

Contentious

Enforcement: Managed and led internal legal teams and managed external project teams with regard to assisting clients prepare for, understand and navigate the requirements and obligations on them with regard to CBI Supervisory Inspections, PRISIM Reviews, and CBI Enforcement Investigations under the Administrative Sanctions Procedures. (Clients including Credit Institutions & their subsidiaries)
Establishment, registration, and on-going operation and governance of Investment Funds and Structures for both Retail and Professional Investors. (Clients including Credit Institutions & their subsidiaries, authorised investment fund managers, government agency for developing Irish entities in world markets)
Application of various complex EU Regulations across a broad and diverse range of regulated financial service providers in Ireland. (Clients including Retail credit/Credit Servicing firms, Equity Crowdfunding Providers, Private Equity firms, Money Lenders)
Advising Company Board and Remuneration Committees on the regulatory compliant options and related process requirements for closure of Defined Benefit Pension Schemes and the examination of Senior Executive Benefits. (Clients including Irish Agri-food Co-Operative and Irish National Youth Development Organisation)

Education