S.I. No. 580/2014 - The European Communities (Lawyers' Establishment) Regulations 2003 (Qualifying Certificate 2015) Regulations 2014.

1. The registration fee (A), the Compensation Fund contribution (B) and the Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund contribution (C) are required to be paid by each applicant for a qualifying certificate.

These are mandatory fees and must be paid before a qualifying certificate can be issued

.

2. A registered lawyer admitted during the practice year commencing 1 January 2015, if applying for his/her first qualifying certificate during the practice year 2015, may calculate the registration fee, the Compensation Fund contribution and the Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund contribution payable by him or her on the basis of the number of full calendar months remaining in that practice year following the month of his/her admission, and the registered lawyer’s membership subscription in respect of the year (or part thereof) of his/her admission shall be at the reduced rate of €20.

3. A registered lawyer who has commenced practising during the practice year (after 1 February 2015) is only required to pay the qualifying certificate fee on a pro rata basis and may therefore calculate the registration fee, the Compensation Fund contribution and the Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund contribution payable by him or her on the basis of the number of full calendar months or any part thereof remaining in the practice year including the month in which the application is made. For example, if a registered lawyer commences practising on 18 June 2015, he or she will be required to pay a pro rata fee of seven-twelfths of the annual fee.

4. Payment of the annual membership subscription and/or the Solicitors Benevolent Association contribution and/or the Free Legal Advice Centres contribution and/or Community Law Centres contribution is/are not a condition(

s

) precedent to the issuing to a registered lawyer of a Qualifying certificate. However, unless a registered lawyer pays the annual membership subscription, he/she cannot enjoy the benefits of being a member of the Society as provided for in the Society’s Bye-Laws, including the right to vote in annual and provincial elections and the right to receive the Society’s Gazette. The voluntary contribution to Community Law Centres will be allocated to the Ballymun Community Law Centre and the Northside Community Law Centre.

5. A registered lawyer admitted to the Roll for at least 50 years on 1 January 2015 is entitled to be a member of the Society without payment of a membership subscription. Therefore it is not necessary for such a registered lawyer to pay the €85 membership subscription when applying for a qualifying certificate.

Section K — Payment Methods

Please pay the fees due by cheque, draft or electronic funds transfer (EFT) as indicated on the application form.

If paying by electronic funds transfer (EFT), it is mandatory to complete and enclose the EFT payment form with the qualifying certificate application form. Failure to do so will result in the application form being returned as incomplete, notwithstanding that the fees due may actually have been received by the Society. EFT payments are more fully described in the general section of these guidance notes.

If paying by cheque or draft, failure to include a completed valid cheque or draft will result in the application form being returned as incomplete.

If paying by cheque or draft, you are advised to send your application and payment by registered post and keep a photocopy of the cheque or draft.

There is no discretion to waive the requirement for registered lawyers to pay in full for the qualifying certificate before the qualifying certificate is issued to the registered lawyer. The qualifying certificate will issue dated the actual date that the Society received the properly completed form and full payment of fees due. In this regard, attention is drawn to the deadline of 17 February 2015 for inclusion in the Law Directory 2015 which is more fully described in the general section of these guidance notes.

6. An applicant registered lawyer who, in an application delivered to the Registrar, knowingly furnishes information that is false or misleading in a material respect shall be guilty of misconduct.

Registration Fee, contribution to Compensation Fund and contribution for Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund

7. This section applies to any registered lawyer that has been authorised as a personal insolvency practitioner by the Insolvency Service of Ireland in accordance with the provisions of the

Personal Insolvency Act 2012

.

Section C — Investment Business Services or Investment Advice

This Section is required to comply with The Solicitors Acts 1954 to 1994 (Investment Business and Investor Compensation) Regulations 1998 (

SI. No. 439 of 1998

) as amended.

SECTION C, PART I

Part I of this Section applies to a registered lawyer who is an investment business firm or an investment firm within the terms of

Section 47

(1)(

a

) or (

b

) of the

Investor Compensation Act 1998

.

Text of Investor Compensation Act 1998 Section 47(1)(

a

) and (

b

) is as follows

8. The fee payable to the Society by a person who applies to the Registrar, pursuant to Section 17 of the Act of 1960, for a copy of an entry on File A or File B shall be as specified in the Second Schedule to these Regulations.

Collection and use of Personal data

9. (

a

) The Society shall be entitled to collect and maintain personal data (“Personal Data”) relating to each registered lawyer, including but not limited to

(i) name,

(ii) practice address,

(iii) personal correspondence address,

(iv) telephone and fax number(

s

),

(v) email address,

(vi) academic qualifications, and

(vii) information concerning a registered lawyer arising from the carrying out by the Society by its regulatory functions under the Solicitors Acts 1954 to 2011 and regulations made thereunder, including sensitive Personal Data such as health records or information relating to the commission or alleged commission of a criminal offence.

(

b

) Personal Data relating to a registered lawyer maintained by the Society may be used by the Society for administration, management, marketing, promotion of the solicitors profession and professional development purposes and in pursuance of the Society’s regulatory functions.

(

c

) Personal Data relating to any disciplinary processes pending or not yet dismissed against a registered lawyer may be provided by the Society to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board (“JAAB”), in respect of a registered lawyer who is being considered for appointment to judicial office by the JAAB.

Issue of duplicate qualifying certificate

10. Where a registered lawyer to whom a qualifying certificate for the practice year has been issued pursuant to Regulation 4(

b

) of these Regulations, certifies to the Registrar that his or her qualifying certificate has been inadvertently destroyed, lost or mislaid, such registered lawyer may apply to the Society for a duplicate original of such qualifying certificate on duly discharging the fee specified in the Second Schedule to these Regulations and on duly undertaking to the Registrar that, in the event of the qualifying certificate as originally issued being subsequently found in the course of the practice year, that same qualifying certificate would forthwith be returned to the Registrar.

Where conditions attached to qualifying certificate

11. (

a

) Where a qualifying certificate for the practice year is caused to be issued by the Registrar to a registered lawyer subject to a specified condition or conditions, the qualifying certificate shall be endorsed with the words (adapted as appropriate): “

Issued subject to

[a]

specified condition

[s]

as annexed

” and the Registrar at the same time shall cause to be issued to the registered lawyer concerned a separate document (deemed to be part of the qualifying certificate) headed with the Society’s crest and title and with the words (adapted as appropriate): “

Annexe to qualifying certificate of

[name of registered lawyer]

of

[a]

specified condition

[s]

attached thereto and applicable as and from

[date of commencement of applicability of the specified condition or conditions]” and setting out the text of each specified condition.

(

b

) Where the Society gives a direction pursuant to Section 59 of the Act of 1994 that the qualifying certificate already issued to a registered lawyer for the practice year should, from a date that is 21 days after the date of receipt by the registered lawyer concerned of notification in writing by the Society of the giving of such direction, have effect subject to a specified condition or conditions, the registered lawyer shall (subject to the provisions of the said Section 59 of the Act of 1994 as to the registered lawyer’s right of appeal to the High Court), within such period of 21 days, surrender his or her current qualifying certificate, and the Society shall, as soon as possible, reissue the qualifying certificate endorsed with the words (adapted as appropriate): “

Issued subject to

[a]

specified condition

[s]

as annexed

” and the Registrar at the same time shall cause to be issued to the registered lawyer concerned a separate document (deemed to be part of the qualifying certificate) headed with the Society’s crest and title and with the words (adapted as appropriate): “

Annexe to qualifying certificate of

[name of registered lawyer]

of

[a]

specified condition

[s]

attached thereto and applicable as and from

[date of commencement of applicability of the specified condition or conditions]” and setting out the text of each specified condition.

(

c

) Where a qualifying certificate issued or reissued to a registered lawyer for the practice year is subject to a specified condition or conditions as referred to in clause (

a

) or (

b

) of this Regulation 11

(i) the registered lawyer concerned shall comply with the specified condition or each of the specified conditions, as the case may be, and shall ensure that he or she does not provide legal services to any client of the registered lawyer in breach of such specified condition or conditions, whether or not any such client is made aware of such specified condition or conditions, and

(ii) the registered lawyer concerned, in any display by him or her of his or her qualifying certificate, shall display with equal prominence adjacent thereto, the annexe thereto setting out the specified condition or conditions to which his or her qualifying certificate is subject.

Signed on behalf of the Law Society of Ireland pursuant to

Section 79

of the

Solicitors Act, 1954

.

17 December 2014.

KEVIN D O’HIGGINS,

President of the Law Society of Ireland.

FIRST SCHEDULE

within referred to

FORM OF APPLICATION FOR QUALIFYING CERTIFICATE FOR PRACTICE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2015

SECOND SCHEDULE

within referred to

EURO

(a)

Registration Fee for the practice year ending on 31 December 2015 payable to the Society on application for a qualifying certificate by an applicant registered lawyer admitted to the Register of Registered Lawyers for three years or more on 1 January 2015

€1,375.00

(b)

Registration Fee for the practice year ending on 31 December 2015 payable to the Society on application for a qualifying certificate by an applicant registered lawyer originally admitted to the Register of Registered Lawyers for less than three years on 1 January 2015

€1,075.00

(c)

Contribution to the Compensation Fund for the practice year ending on 31 December 2015 payable to the Society on application for a qualifying certificate by an applicant registered lawyer

€760.00

(d)

Contribution for the Solicitors Mutual Defence Fund Limited for the practice year ending on 31 December 2015 payable to the Society on application for a qualifying certificate by an applicant registered lawyer

€200.00

(e)

Fee payable to the Society on each application, pursuant to

Section 17

of the

Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1960

, for a copy of an entry on File A or File B

€100.00

(f)

Fee payable to the Society on each application, pursuant to Regulation 10 of these Regulations, for the issue of a duplicate original qualifying certificate for the practice year.

€50.00

THIRD SCHEDULE

within referred to

Law Society of Ireland

Qualifying Certificate Application

for the practice year ending 31 December 2015

GUIDANCE NOTES

GENERAL

Why you need a qualifying certificate

It is the statutory responsibility of each registered lawyer to ensure that he or she has a qualifying certificate in place before providing legal services of any kind whatsoever, either restricted or non-restricted. It is professional misconduct and a criminal offence for a registered lawyer (other than a registered lawyer in the full-time service of the State or a registered lawyer solely engaging in conveyancing services for a non-solicitor employer) to practise without a qualifying certificate. A registered lawyer shall be deemed to practise as a registered lawyer if he or she engages in the provision of legal services. ‘Legal services’ are services of a legal or financial nature provided by a registered lawyer arising from that registered lawyer’s practice as a registered lawyer.

It should be noted that it is not permissible for a firm to classify a registered lawyer employed by a firm as a ‘legal executive’ or ‘paralegal’ with a view to avoiding the requirement to hold a qualifying certificate if the registered lawyer is engaged in the provision of legal services.

It should be noted that in-house registered lawyers are required to hold a qualifying certificate.

The actions that can be taken against a registered lawyer found to be practising without a qualifying certificate include a referral to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, an application to the High Court, and a report to An Garda Siochana.

Qualifying certificate application forms and fees

Application forms will be issued after 15 December 2014.

The qualifying certificate application form is available online to download.

The practising fees due for the year are set out in the application form. Please note that as payment of qualifying certificate fees is a statutory obligation rather than the discharge of a bill for services provided the Society does not furnish invoices in respect of qualifying certificate fees payable notwithstanding any company policy that may require invoices.

When you must apply

A qualifying certificate must be applied for on or before 1 February in each year in order to be dated 1 January of that year and thereby operate as a qualification to practise from the commencement of the year.

It is therefore a legal requirement for a practising registered lawyer to deliver, or cause to be delivered, to the Registrar of Solicitors, on or before 1 February 2015, an application in the prescribed form correctly completed and signed by the applicant registered lawyer personally, together with the full appropriate fee.

It is the responsibility of each registered lawyer to ensure that he or she obtains a qualifying certificate application form, properly completes same and delivers such application form to the Law Society with full payment on or before 1 February 2015.

Applications should be delivered to: Regulation Department, Law Society of Ireland, George’s Court, George’s Lane, Dublin 7; DX 1025 Four Courts. It should be noted that 1 February 2015 falls on a Sunday.

A valid qualifying certificate application consists of a properly completed application form together with full payment. It should be noted that any incorrectly completed application form, or applications without full payment attached (or properly completed EFT form attached), will be considered to be an incomplete application, cannot be processed and will be returned. Qualifying certificates will be dated the date that the Society actually receives a properly completed application with full payment.

Therefore, registered lawyers are strongly advised to read and take full account of the qualifying certificate application form guidance notes when completing the form and are required to ensure that the Society receives full payment of the fees due (and properly completed EFT form if applicable) with the application form.

What happens if you apply late?

Any applications for qualifying certificates that are received after 1 February 2015 will result in the qualifying certificates being dated the date of actual receipt by the Registrar of Solicitors, rather than 1 January 2015. There is no legal power to allow any period of grace under any circumstances whatsoever.

Please note that, as mentioned previously, it is professional misconduct and a criminal offence to provide legal services as a registered lawyer without a qualifying certificate in force. Therefore, registered lawyers whose properly completed qualifying certificate application forms and payment are received after 1 February 2015 and whose qualifying certificates are therefore dated after 1 February 2015, who have provided legal services before that date, must make an application to the President of the High Court to have their qualifying certificates backdated to 1 January 2015. Further information on backdating qualifying certificates can be obtained from the Practice Regulation Section of the Society by emailing

pc@lawsociety.ie

. It should be noted that the Society will seek its costs of €350 per qualifying certificate backdated in all cases.

The Regulation of Practice Committee is the regulatory committee of the Society that has responsibility for supervising compliance with qualifying certificate requirements. A special meeting of this committee will be held on a date after 1 February 2015, to be decided at a later date, to consider any late or unresolved applications for qualifying certificates. At this meeting, any practising registered lawyers who have not applied by that date for a qualifying certificate will be considered for referral forthwith to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and will be informed that the Society reserves the right to take proceedings for an order under

section 18

of the

Solicitors (Amendment) Act 2002

to prohibit them from practising illegally.

If you are an employed registered lawyer

Registered lawyers who are employed should note that it is the statutory obligation of every registered lawyer who requires a qualifying certificate to ensure that he or she has a qualifying certificate in force from the commencement of the year, or from the date at which he or she commenced providing legal services in that year.

Employed registered lawyers cannot absolve themselves from this responsibility by relying on their employers to procure their qualifying certificates. However, it is the Society’s recommendation that all employers should pay for the qualifying certificate of registered lawyers employed by them.

Please note that the qualifying certificate remains the property of the registered lawyer, regardless of who has paid for the qualifying certificate.

Some of your details are already on the application form

The qualifying certificate application form will be issued with certain information relating to each registered lawyer’s practice already completed. Such information will include the relevant fees due by each registered lawyer and where applicable, provided date of birth has been notified to the Society, will include allowance for those registered lawyers of 70 years or over, to take account of the fact that they will not be covered under the provisions of the Solicitors’ Group Life Cover Scheme.

Payment by electronic funds transfer (EFT)

All qualifying certificate application forms sent out will include an EFT payment form. Any registered lawyer wishing to pay the qualifying certificate fee by EFT must complete and return the EFT payment form with their qualifying certificate application form.

Failure to do so will result in the application form being returned as incomplete, notwithstanding that the fees due may actually have been received by the Society.

Each EFT payment must have an easily identifiable specific reference, such as the firm or company name, the registered lawyer’s name or the registered lawyer’s number. General references, such as ‘Law Society’ or ‘qualifying certificate’ will not be accepted and may result in a significant delay in the issuing of the qualifying certificate as the Society may not be able to identify your specific payment without an easily identifiable specific reference. The payment reference used must be included in the EFT form. Failure to include this information will result in the application form being returned as incomplete, notwithstanding that the fees due may actually have been received by the Society.

The Society’s bank account details are included in the EFT payment form. The Society cannot be held responsible for any delay which occurs in processing applications to obtain a qualifying certificate where payment has been forwarded to another Law Society account which does not deal with qualifying certificate/membership fees. You are required to ensure that the monies have been sent to the correct account as listed in the EFT payment form regardless of which account you sent the fees to in previous years.

Law Directory 2015

It is intended that the Law Directory 2015 will note all registered lawyers who have been issued with a qualifying certificate by 17 February 2015. Qualifying certificates can only be issued following receipt of a properly completed application form together with full payment, with no outstanding queries raised thereon.

It should be noted that only those registered lawyers with qualifying certificates

issued

by 17 February 2015 will be included in the Law Directory, not every registered lawyer who has submitted an application form by 17 February 2015.

Therefore, in order to ensure that your qualifying certificate issues by 17 February 2015 to enable you to be included in the Law Directory, you should ensure that the application form you return to the Society is completed correctly and includes full payment of fees due.

If the form is not completed correctly, or fees have not been paid in full or the EFT form has not been included in the case of EFT payments (notwithstanding that the fees due may actually have been received by the Society), it will be necessary for the Society to return the form, which may result in delaying the issue of your qualifying certificate, despite the fact that you had applied for the qualifying certificate prior to 17 February 2015.

The details of any registered lawyer whose qualifying certificate issues after 17 February 2015 will not be included in the Law Directory, but will be included in the ‘Find a Solicitor’ search facility on the Society’s website, provided the registered lawyer is a practising registered lawyer. A practising registered lawyer is a registered lawyer with a current qualifying certificate and either professional indemnity insurance in place or an exemption from holding professional indemnity insurance as a registered lawyer employee of a non-registered lawyer employer.

What you can access on the website (www.lawsociety.ie)

A blank application form will also become available on the members’ area of the Law Society web-site after 15 December 2014, which you print for completion and returning to the Society with the full appropriate fee. This area is accessible by using your username and password.

If you require assistance, please visit www.lawsociety.ie/help. In addition, you may request a form to be emailed to you by emailing

pc@lawsociety.ie

.

Change of practising status

If you held a qualifying certificate in 2014, and do not intend to practise for some or all of 2015, including the following situations, you should notify the Society in writing with the relevant details before 1 February 2015

• you recently ceased to practise, or are intending to cease to practise in the coming year;

• you will not be practising in 2015 for any reason, including unemployment, career break, change of career, emigration, sick leave or maternity leave; or

• you will not be providing legal services, and will therefore not be applying for a qualifying certificate until after 1 February 2015 for any reason, including unemployment, career break, sick leave and maternity leave.

You should provide the Society with a current correspondence address and email address to allow the Society to communicate with you if you are not practising.

If there is any change in your practising status during the year, you should immediately notify the Society in writing with the relevant information to ensure that your practising status is up to date.

Change of practice

If you have changed firms during the year, and have not previously notified the Society in writing of this change, you must do so immediately, in accordance with the provisions of

section 81

of the

Solicitors Act 1954

. You should include the date you left your former firm, and the date you joined your new firm, together with the name and address of the new firm. The same requirement applies for any registered lawyer who has changed non-solicitor employer.

Failure to provide this information before 5 December 2014 may result in your qualifying certificate application form and information being sent to your former practice, as the Society will not have your up-to-date contact information.

You can check the current contact information for you held by the Society through the ‘Find a Solicitor’ search facility on the Society’s website.

Acknowledgement of application forms

Please note that it is not the Society’s policy to acknowledge receipt of application forms or fee payments. If in doubt that your application form will arrive on time, or at all, send by registered post, tracked DX or courier.

Issuing a qualifying certificate

Please note that acceptance of an application form and fees by the Society does not constitute a guarantee or agreement that a qualifying certificate will be issued. There are a number of factors that may result in the Society deciding not to issue a registered lawyer with a qualifying certificate, including matters arising under

section 49

of the

Solicitors Act 1954

, as substituted by

section 61

of the

Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994

, as amended by

section 2

of the

Solicitors (Amendment) Act 2002

. If a qualifying certificate is not issued to a registered lawyer, the relevant fees will be refunded.

Duplicate qualifying certificate

Please note that a fee of €50 will be payable in respect of each duplicate qualifying certificate issued for any purpose.

Refund of qualifying certificate fees

Registered lawyers may only be issued with one qualifying certificate in any practice year. A qualifying certificate is a licence to practise and remains in force whether or not the registered lawyer chooses to practise. The issue date of the qualifying certificate is the date on which the qualifying certificate comes into force until the 31 December in the same practice year and indicates the date from which you are reflected as practising on the Society records.

If you cease to practice during the practice year, including for reasons of sick leave or maternity leave, and will not be not be practising for the rest of the year, you may surrender your qualifying certificate and apply to the Society for an ex gratia refund of your qualifying certificate fees for the remainder of the year.

In order to be considered for a refund of your qualifying certificate fees you must ensure that

• you immediately notified the Society in writing when you ceased to practise;

• you have fully completed and submitted a qualifying certificate surrender form, together with the original of your current qualifying certificate;

• you have made your application in the same practice year in which you ceased to practice.

Please note that, as the qualifying certificate is the property of the registered lawyer regardless of who paid for the qualifying certificate, the qualifying certificate surrender form must be completed by the registered lawyer who is surrendering their qualifying certificate. However, the registered lawyer may direct that their refund, if granted, be issued to a nominated third party, including their former practice.

Please note that no refund will be issued for registered lawyers that have applied for a qualifying certificate from the start of the year, and subsequently claim that they commenced practising later than the date their qualifying certificate issued. Such registered lawyers should have properly applied for a qualifying certificate to be issued as at the date they actually commence practising.

Please note that this is an ex gratia refund application. Therefore, it is at the absolute discretion of the Society whether to issue a refund and the Society is under no obligation whatsoever to issue a refund. The application form is available to download on the Society’s website, or can be obtained by emailing

pc@lawsociety.ie

.

QUALIFYING CERTIFICATE APPLICATION FORM

Completion of the application form

The application form must be properly completed and dated and signed personally by the applicant. In order for an application to be considered as properly completed, it must also include full payment of the fees due.

If any details are omitted from the application form, or the full fees or EFT form (in the case of EFT payments) are not included with the application, it may be returned to the applicant for proper completion and re-submission, which could result in delay in issuing a qualifying certificate to the applicant. The qualifying certificate will be dated the date of receipt of the properly completed form and full payment, if receives after 1 February 2015.

The application form must be properly completed by a registered lawyer engaged (or intending to engage) during the practice year ending 31 December 2015 in the provision of legal services, whether as a sole practitioner or as a partner in a registered lawyer’s practice or as an employee (whether of a registered lawyer(

s

) or of any other person or body including in-house registered lawyers), including a registered lawyer who does not require a qualifying certificate by reason of being a registered lawyer in the full-time service of the State (within the meaning of

section 54

of the

Solicitors Act, 1954

, as substituted by

section 62

of the

Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994

) (in such cases by completing the special application form for such cases) or by reason of being a registered lawyer employed full-time in the State to provide conveyancing services only to and for his/her non-solicitor employer (

section 56

of the

Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994

).

The practice year coincides with the calendar year. The application form must be received by the Registrar at the Society’s premises, George’s Court, George’s Lane, Dublin 7, on or before 1 February 2015 in order for the qualifying certificate to be dated 1 January 2015 and thereby to operate as a qualification to practise from the commencement of the practice year 2015.

A qualifying certificate issued after 1 February 2015 must, in accordance with

Section 48

of the

Solicitors Act 1954

as amended by

Section 55

of the

Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994

) bear the date on which the application is actually received by the Registrar. An application is not considered as actually received unless it is a properly completed application with full payment.

Section B — Status

Please complete this Section as indicated on the application form.

Notes in relation to particular parts of this Section

41. (1)(

a

) A solicitor in respect of whom a practising certificate (within the meaning of the Solicitors Acts 1954 to [1994]) is in force shall be an investment business firm—

(i)

where the solicitor provides investment business services or investment advice in a manner which is not incidental to the provision of legal services, or

(ii)

where the solicitor holds himself or herself out as being an investment business firm, or

(iii)

where, when acting as an investment product intermediary in a manner incidental to the provision of legal services, the solicitor holds an appointment in writing other than from—

(I) an investment firm authorised in accordance with the Investment Services Directive by a competent authority of another Member State, or an authorised investment business firm (not being a restricted activity investment product intermediary or a certified person), or a member firm within the meaning of the

Stock Exchange Act 1995

, or

(II) a credit institution authorised in accordance with Directives 77/780/EEC of 12 December 1977 and 89/646/EEC of 15 December 1989, or

(III) a manager of a collective investment undertaking authorised to market units in collective investments to the public,

which is situate in the State or the relevant branch of which is situate in the State,

and shall be required to be authorised as an authorised investment business firm pursuant to the provisions of the [Investment Intermediaries Act] 1995.

(2) A solicitor, in respect of whom a practising certificate (within the meaning of the Solicitors Acts 1954 to [1994]) is in force, who is an insurance intermediary or who holds himself [or herself] out to be an insurance intermediary shall be an investment firm for the purposes of this Act and shall inform the [

Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority

] and [

The Investor Compensation Company Limited

] that he or she is an investment firm for the purposes of this Act.

The terms of the description referred to in Part I of this section and the terms of the evidence in writing referred to in Part I of this section are as follows

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

26

th December

, 2014.

The Law Society of Ireland, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by the European Communities (Lawyers’ Establishment) Regulations 2003 (

S.I. No. 732 of 2003

,

S.I. No. 752 of 2004

and

S.I. No. 96 of 2008

) HEREBY MAKE the following Regulations

Citation and commencement