DUBLIN: An investment fund headed up by one of the country’s highest profile accountants has been fined by the Central Bank over how it treated clients. Kinsale Capital Management is chaired by Terence O’Rourke, who is chairman of Enterprise Ireland. The low-profile firm was fined €275,000 for breaching rules on how it dealt with clients. This is set to be an embarrassment for Mr O’Rourke, who is former managing partner of KPMG, and a board member of The Irish Times Limited. He is also on a string of other high-profile boards. Mr O’Rourke is also board member, fellow and former president of the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board. He was appointed as a director to Kinsale Capital Management last September, with the breaches happening before his appointment.
The Central Bank said that after an on-site visit to Dublin-based Kinsale Capital Management it found the firm was providing investment advice to three retail clients in breach of its authorisation. It is only supposed to advise professional investors. The website for the firm describes it as a “global value equity fund” and mentions it was nominated for the Global Euro Hedge Awards in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The firm made profits of €1.4m in 2015, Companies Office records show. A statement from the Central Bank said it fined Kinsale Capital Management Limited €275,000 and reprimanded it for breaches of the European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007 (MiFID).
