Designated Persons and Accredited Funds Professionals Networking Event

Catharine Dwyer

Firm Authorisations Manager and Advisory Unit Lead, in the Capital Markets & Funds Division at Central Bank of Ireland

Catharine’s responsibilities in the Central Bank stretch across both firms and product. She manages the team responsible for authorisation of managers, fund service providers and trading venues. She also manages the Funds Authorisation Advisory team which is responsible for product related issues, including complex product assessments.

Catharine has significant experience as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Policy Division of the Central Bank and prior to that was a Consultant in a large law practice in Dublin. Catharine’s background is in the investment funds industry and she has demonstrable and extensive experience from a service provider, legal, product, governance and regulatory perspective.

Kevin McConnell

CFA, CEO GEM Strategic

Kevin, a Chartered Financial Analyst, is an external specialist consultant in the banking and investment sectors with over 30 years of experience in financial markets. Working with banks, regulators and investors in Credit, Capital, Stress Testing and Strategy, Kevin has experience in over a dozen regulatory jurisdictions across Europe, US and Emerging markets.

He has worked through a range of top tier M&A transactions providing stress testing/due diligence consultancy, and transaction advisory. He was a member of the Committee on Collective Investment Governance (CCIG) of Central Bank of Ireland (2014) which supported the development of CP86. Kevin has presented and provided training at European Central Bank, and has delivered expert programs to European and Middle Eastern based regulators on Bank Capital, Credit and IFRS9.

He was a member of the Advisory Committee of the Certified Investment Fund Director Institute for seven years, delivering programs in Investment Management to board directors, and is a Senior Associate of Faculty, Institute of Banking (IOB) Executive Education- Certified Bank Director Program since 2012. He has designed and delivers the Structured Finance/Credit program for the Msc in Finance in Michael Smurfit Business School, University College Dublin, the Graduate Diploma in Alternative Investment, the Professional Certificate in Capital Market Investment & Funds program for the Institute of Banking (IOB-UCD), and the Asset Management/Sustainable Finance program on the Msc. in Finance, Trinity College Dublin (TCD) for over a decade.

Kevin has also delivered programs on Bank Capital, Investments and Credit, in association with the IOB and Cambridge University. Kevin is also an adjunct Professor of Finance with TCD, and Examiner for the Certified Financial Planner examination for Financial Planning & Standards Board in Ireland.

Kevin is also deputy chair of the Irish platform of one of the largest CLO originators in Europe, sits on a range of investment fund boards and is chief executive of GEM Strategic, a specialist banking and investment consultancy firm.

Killian Buckley

Independent Director and Strategic Advisor, Martello Advisory

Killian Buckley has worked in the investment funds world for over 25 years. With an original background in corporate finance and transaction work, Killian joined the regulatory boutique start-up Kinetic Partners as an equity partner in 2005, establishing the Irish office that year. Following the purchase of Kinetic by Duff & Phelps in 2015, Killian acted as a Managing Director in the Compliance and Regulatory Consulting unit, as well as Head of Management Company Solutions, responsible for the global ManCo services out of Ireland and Luxembourg. In 2019, Killian established Martello Advisory, offering independent director and advisory services. Killian has been privileged to act as Director, Designated Person and MLRO for some of the top investment management firms globally. He is a well-known and frequent speaker at events and contributor to thought leadership in the industry, and currently acts as Programme Lead and Head Lecturer on the Institute of Bankers, Designated Person qualification. He has sat on a number of industry stakeholder groups interacting with regulatory authorities and government agencies. He is also a previous Chair of the Irish Funds Marketing committee

Richard Wane

Consultant

Over a 30 year career Richard held a variety of leadership roles across legal, compliance and business areas, principally at The Vanguard Group (2008-2021) and Fidelity International (1996-2008).

Richard qualified a Solicitor (England & Wales) in 1991 and has a BA (Jt Hons) in Law and Politics from Durham University.

Richard held several positions requiring regulatory approval in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Ireland, most recently as Chief Executive Officer of Vanguard’s Dublin office. He has also served as a Director on a number of company boards.

Richard believes it is important that Ireland should have a professional educational qualification to reflect the significant responsibilities of the Designated Person/PCF roles.