Now home to 20 of the 25 largest financial services firms globally, the country in many respects is barely recognisable from the Ireland of the late 80s and early 90s when the IFSC was in its infancy. It punches well above its weight through a combination of a highly educated work-force, a good quality of life, a pro-business regulatory and fiscal regime, and an English-speaking, common law legal infrastructure.
It is also noteworthy that Ireland will soon become the only English-speaking member of the European Union. In that regard, a recent EY report noted that some 29 financial services companies have relocated staff or services from London to Dublin as a result of Brexit, making Dublin the most popular relocation site for the sector, ahead of both Luxembourg (25) and Frankfurt (24).
