Horizon Scanner Finance June 2026 - Irish Developments

CBI – Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and tokenisation discussion Paper

On 5 March 2026, the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) published a Discussion Paper (DP12) (PDF 1.4 MB) examining the use of DLT and tokenisation within Irish and European financial services, with a particular focus on investment funds, including money market funds and exchange-traded funds. Stakeholders are invited to submit written responses by 5 June 2026, after which the CBI expects to publish a feedback statement outlining themes emerging from the consultation and potential areas of further policy development.

Setting out its headline position, the CBI states that it believes that DLT and tokenisation, “if enabled and deployed correctly”, can change the financial system for the better, including by helping the EU deliver on its objectives to integrate and deepen its financial markets.

The Discussion Paper considers the opportunities presented by DLT-based structures across a range of financial services activities, including issuance, trading, settlement and custody. Alongside the opportunities, the CBI also identifies the legal and regulatory issues that arise from adoption of such structures.

In particular, the CBI explores the key enabling conditions that would need to be in place to support wider adoption of DLT and tokenisation, including:

• legal and regulatory clarity on ownership of tokenised assets
• settlement finality in DLT-based systems
• the enforceability of smart contracts under existing legal frameworks

For background on this Discussion Paper, read our insights here: Central Bank issues Discussion Paper on DLT & tokenisation in financial services.

Distance Marketing Directive – repeal and replacement framework

As part of a broader modernisation of the EU consumer financial services framework launched by the Commission in 2020 (PDF 1 MB), new rules were adopted under a new Directive regarding financial services contracts concluded at a distance in November 2023 (Directive (EU) 2023/2673) (PDF 1.4 MB) (the Directive). The Directive will repeal the original Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services Directive (Directive 2002/65/EC) and will instead incorporate updated rules for financial services contracts concluded at a distance into a new chapter of the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU). These changes reflect the increasing digitalisation of financial services distribution and the overlap with more recent sector-specific legislation.

The new rules under the Directive will apply from 19 June 2026 and Member States were to publish transposing legislation by 19 December 2025. It provides for a number of areas of national discretion at Member State level. In Ireland, the Department of Finance published an Outcome Statement (690 KB) in October 2025 following a public consultation process, indicating that transposing legislation will not go beyond the requirement in key areas such as language, pre-contractual information and protections against ‘dark patterns’. However, the Department confirmed its intention to exercise two linked national discretions under Article 16b(7) of the Directive in that it will extend the right of withdrawal for certain credit agreements that fall outside the scope of both the Mortgage Credit Directive and the Consumer Credit Directive.

The Department indicated that the Directive will primarily be implemented through amendments to the Consumer Protection Act 2022, alongside potential amendments to other relevant legislation such as those governing the Mortgage Credit Directive and the Consumer Credit Directive. Irish transposing measures have yet to be published.

For details on the key aspects of the updated rules under the Directive, which cover requirements on pre-contractual information, withdrawal functionality, the right to request human intervention and preventing the use of dark patterns, read our briefing here: Distance Marketing: Reforms finalised (likely to apply mid-2026).