15th May 2019: TD Securities, a unit of one of Canada's five clearing banks, Toronto Dominion, has opened an office in Dublin with staffing expected to grow to 80 by the end of 2019. This will include staff in front office, support and control and technology roles. The firm was authorised as a broker-dealer under MIFID by the CBI in March. TD Securities is one of a cluster of Canadian banks to have operated in Ireland for many years, but Brexit has restimulated their activities in the centre. IDA Ireland had identified the project as a strategic IFS investment, and it was welcomed by IDA CEO Martin Shanahan today.

10th May 2019: The annual basis.point Spring Charity Lunch was attended by 450 funds industry members, joined this year by two young entrepreneurs from The Patrician Academy School, Cork who explained the impact that their participation in the Foroige NFTE programme, supported by b.p. was having. They also heard that Richard Day's Boston Marathon run raised €56,700 for the Irish funds industry CSR initiative.

26th April 2019: The Strategy was jointly launched today by Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, and Minister of State for Financial Services and Insurance, Michael D'Arcy TD. The vision of the strategy is 'for Ireland to be a top-tier global location of choice for specialist international financial services'. The full Report can be accessed here

13th May 2019: The pan-European platform, which includes Dublin's stock exchange, will include Norway's stock exchange. Euronext will now operate exchanges in the UK, Belgium, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal and Norway.

The Government has nominated Gabriel Makhlouf for appointment by the President as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland. Mr. Makhlouf is the Treasury Secretary and Chief Executive of the New Zealand Treasury, and the New Zealand Government's chief economic and financial adviser.

Income and jobs surge in Top 20 Accountancy Firms, as fee total passes €2 billion for the first time; Dublin emerges as clear winner in Brexit relocation choices; Opposition to SF 'No Consent' Bill; A Day in the Life: 'The finance team are far more than retrospective number counters at Ding'; The Irish Tax Monitor: Brexit considerations - the tax implications of potential outcomes; Ireland's Transfer Pricing Rules: preparing for Finance Bill 2019; An Irish version of the FBI? - the new Corporate Enforcement Authority under the spotlight in the Dillon Eustace Regulatory Investigations Quarterly.

The results of the Finance Dublin 2019 Top Twenty Accountancy Survey are strong evidence that the post Brexit Irish IFS model is working. Furthermore, the findings of the survey, taken in conjunction with the commentary in this issue by the Managing Partners of Ireland's leading firms provide strong grounds for concluding that Brexit will be a net positive for the Irish economy as a whole, and not just the most outstanding elements of it, such as the international financial services industry. Clearly, the 13%+ growth rate recorded in the past two years is evidence of the continuing buoyancy of the island economy - the survey figures confirm this. They also give encouraging evidence of the broad based nature of it - including the agribusiness sector, and Northern Ireland too; the fee data from 8 of the largest firms in the survey relates to business they conduct on an all-island basis.

16th April 2019: A&L Goodbody has announced the appointment of Eileen Roberts as Chair of the partnership. One of the foremost commercial litigation advisers in the jurisdiction, she will succeed ALG's current Chair, Catherine Duffy, on 1st May. After a successful three-year term Catherine will continue her role as one of the firm's senior finance partners.

There has been an upsurge in nominations for this year's Finance Dublin Deals of the Year. It reflects the continued strong growth and development of the economy and financing activity within it, as reflected by a 62 per cent growth in the number of loans and financing deals nominated and a 63 per cent rise in M&A nominations. The buoyancy of both the domestic Irish economy and its growing global footprint, reflected in the surge in financial services deals in the nominations for the Finance Dublin Deals of the Year Awards 2019 is evident in the number of Nominations profiled in this issue. The 2019 Awards will be published in the next issue of Finance Dublin appearing in May.

2nd April 2019: Northern Trust has appointed Meliosa O'Caoimh as country head, Ireland. She succeeds Clive Bellows, who in late-2018 was appointed as head of Global Fund Services for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Reporting to Bellows, O'Caoimh is responsible for all asset servicing business activities conducted from Northern Trust's Dublin and Limerick offices.

3rd April 2019: Intertrust Ireland has announced the launch of their fund administration business, complimenting their existing fund service offering in Ireland. Intertrust will now provide administration services to both Irish and non-Irish domiciled collective investment schemes (including the performance of valuation services, fund accounting services and acting as transfer agent or registration agent for such funds), specialising in alternative investment funds.

25th March 2019: Arthur Cox has chosen a partner in the firm's Finance group Orla O'Connor to be its next Chairperson. She will take up the position on 1 May, succeeding Ciaran Bolger who is completing his six year term and will be returning to full time practice. A member of Arthur Cox's Financial Regulatory Group she has advised on bank reorganisations and on a wide range of regulatory issues relating to payments, electronic money, anti-money laundering, mortgage arrears and consumer credit.

In this issue: Deals of the Year Nominations 2019 - 211 deal nominations reflect a robust year across virtually all categories with debt securities, financial services and M&A showing upsurges; Eve of Brexit Contingency Planning: Special on the regulatory preparations in Ireland for a disorderly Brexit; Strategic developments in Irish IFS continue - S+P's EMEA move; EFF Reports: include State Street's Ron O'Hanley on the global environment of asset management; Tax: Brexit preparations, and wider issues.

In 2018, IDA Ireland won a record 60 individual investments across banking, payments, insurance, investment management, market infrastructure, aircraft leasing and financial technology. Writing in the January issue, IDA Ireland's IFS chief Kieran Donoghue also says "at present, firms are establishing the foundations of a new or significantly expanded presence in Ireland, while simultaneously meeting CBI substance requirements, reconfiguring their overall EU business and monitoring the tortuous process of the UK exit. When this phase is complete, they will then begin to consider future plans and ways in which to leverage and develop their new Irish entities".

The potential for Ireland to become a leading centre for international insolvency, dispute resolution and financial related legal services within Europe - a significant theme in the forthcoming Financial Centres Summit - has been underscored by the Chief Justice of Ireland, Frank Clarke