Walkers wishes to advise that the Irish Stock Exchange is implementing a new approach to the collection of annual listing fees in respect of CLO/CDO/CBO transactions.

With effect from 1 September 2015, new issuers of CLO/CDO/CBO securities who seek a listing on the ISE will be required to take one of two options with reference to the ISE annual fee:

  1. Pay a capped upfront payment of €10,000 in respect of annual fees for the lifetime of the listing; or
  2. Include wording within the Offering Memorandum which provides for designation of ISE annual listing fees at the top of the "waterfall" in the Priority of Payments section. The ISE expects that the relevant wording should make specific reference to ISE annual listing fees and it cannot be assumed that such fees are covered within "Administrative Expenses".

For the avoidance of doubt, the annual fee amount remains unchanged – it is simply the manner in which such fees are collected that is changing. The ISE has always offered issuers the option to pay €10,000 upfront or to pay €2,000 p.a.

Choosing option (a) presents an overall cost saving for transactions whose debt exceeds a five year term and would also confer cost benefits on deals which refinance beyond a five-year term and CLO "makeovers".

We wish to clarify that this new approach will be applicable to all new CDO/CLO/CBO applications to the Main Securities Market and the Global Exchange Market received on or after 1st September 2015.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.