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, such as QMV voting on direct tax in EU27.

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 only area which did not show appreciable growth was in the Equity Capital Markets area, affected perhaps by Brexit undertainty, and markets volatility in recent months, and in a continued malaise in public equity markets that has lingerered since the great financial crisis. In all other areas, it is all systems ago, however, with the Loans & Financing Category showing strong continued growth, alongside frenetic activity in debt capital markets, financial services, and aircraft financing, where Ireland's status as one of the top global centres is consolidating

In the March edition of Finance Dublin - : eve-of-Brexit Contingency Planning: Special on the International Financial Services regulatory preparations in Ireland for a 'disorderly Brexit':

Brexit Special I: 'Working together to achieve convergence in post-Brexit securities markets'. CBI Director of Securities and Markets Supervision Colm Kincaid writes on the regulatory landscape in a post-Brexit Europe.

Brexit Special II: Regulators' Plans for disorderly exit 'We are only in the foothills of the potential testing of the resilience of the financial system that a hard Brexit will cause' - Ed Sibley, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Ireland.

25th February 2019: Co. Leitrim based lender Avantcard today announced the creation of 40 new jobs at its headquarters in Carrick-on-Shannon and satellite office in Dublin. The announcement today was welcomed by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys. Avantcard's Irish passporting was a winner in the Finance Dublin Deals of the Year Awards in 2017. Avantcard currently employs 220 people across their offices in Leitrim and Dublin.

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".

In this issue: Brian Hayes MEP - on the IFS agenda for 2019 and beyond; The IDA's record IFS year in 2018 - IDA Ireland IFS Head, Kieran Donoghue on the Brexit rush and where it is leading potentially; Simmons & Simmons plans for Ireland; Vanguard speaks about their Ireland Manco plans in asset management; basis.point's great year in 2018; 'Behaviour & Conduct' in IFS regulation; Corporation Tax: the ATAD interest deductability and hybrids issues - and the Public Consultation closing on January 18th.

Established in open competition with the rest of the world, the Irish-based International Registry of Mobile Assets has proved a resounding success. With one million registrations recorded since 2006 the company which runs it, Aviareto, a joint venture involving the Irish State, has just had its contract renewed for a further five years, on the back of a second year of 8 p.c. growth.

'As an MEP, I have seen first-hand the constant battles to ensure that our financial services model is protected against over burdensome regulation. With the UK no longer at the table from March 2019, fighting some of these battles against large Member States and the Commission is going to be a challenge', Brian Hayes MEP, writes in the January issue. He takes up the role of CEO of the Banking & Payments Federation of Ireland in June 2019, at the end of his current mandate in the European Parliament.

11th January 2019: The Central Bank of Ireland has just published a joint statement in relation to the treatment of share cancellation. This is the first time the Central Bank has issued a joint statement with Luxembourg's regulator (the CSSF). The statement is a joint move from the regulators of the main players in Money Market Funds (MMFs) - Ireland and Luxembourg. The statement covered the treatment of share cancellation under the Regulation (EU) 2017/1131 on money market funds. It came from the Central Bank of Ireland and the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier, Luxembourg. CBI statement: (11-Jan-2019)

basis.point is the Irish investment funds industry initiative to make a difference by supporting educational programmes for disadvantaged children across Ireland. The geographical reach of basis.point funded programmes has also expanded in 2018 to include Wexford, Waterford, Kilkenny and Galway in addition to the existing locations of Dublin, Cork, Limerick reflecting the funds Industry's footfall throughout Ireland.

Vanguard's Thomas Merz, its head of European Distribution, speaks to Finance Dublin on the industry index and ETF innovator's plans to use its Irish base, in the January 2019 issue. Merz said that Vanguard plans to grow its ETF product line-up: 'We are fans of ETFs both as products, they are transparent, liquid and democratic, and because of their potential to drive the expansion of low-cost investing in Europe. Currently, European investors are mostly serviced through distribution models that are 'pay to play'. This limits the availability of low-cost options for European investors'.

DAVID CLARKE, policy director of the Scottish - Irish Finance Initiative, discusses the channels of mutual benefit in strengthening the links between the Irish and Scottish FS sectors, notably between the Scottish global centre of fund management excellence and the Irish international asset management sector.

In this issue: Special Report: Investment Funds, Ireland 2019. The EU27 Agenda for Ireland's international insurance industry; The Scottish-Irish Finance Initiative sets out plan for post Brexit cooperation between Scottish and Irish FS industries; Jacob Rees-Mogg's Brexit-busting Irish funds vehicle; Finance Act 2018 dissected; 'Real asset' Depositaries given the green light and, the Investment Limited Partnership legislation is promised.

In this issue: The future of aircraft leasing in Ireland, as tax uncertainties cloud the prospect, the industry's fundamental strengths in Ireland remain robust; US Financial Services Regulation - the Republican administration's agenda, as the Mid Term elections produce 'a qualified win' for both sides of the House; The EU's Digital Tax - Ireland and the 'Hanseatic League's opposition to it; Investment Funds: the Government and CBI's track record held to account at FCSDublin, 2018, and much more.

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

A continuing wave of international changes in taxation and substance requirements means that the way things have been done in the past is not necessarily the way they can be done in the future, speakers said at the Aviation Finance Conference 2018, at Dublin Castle. In a scene setting discussion of the agenda for 2019, Ireland's aircraft industry leaders displayed a commanding grasp of the outlook, but were cognisant of the threats to the sector's prosperity.