Insight Investment Solutions ICAV (CLONE) - Central Bank of Ireland Issues Warning on Unauthorised Firm

What Changed

• - The CBI has formally designated *Insight Investment Solutions ICAV (CLONE)* as an unauthorised ICAV and publicly listed it as an unauthorised firm under section 53 of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013.
• The CBI confirms the clone firm is not authorised to provide financial services in Ireland and is unlawfully using the name and Central Bank registration number of the legitimate ICAV to deceive consumers.
• The warning explicitly clarifies that there is no connection whatsoever between the legitimate Central Bank authorised Insight Investment Solutions ICAV and the clone entity, which must now be treated by firms as a known scam.
• Contact details (website, telephone number, email) used by the clone are now identified by the CBI as fraudulent identifiers that should be incorporated into internal fraud and financial‑crime screening lists.
• The publication reinforces the CBI’s expectation that firms and the public report suspected unauthorised firms to the CBI and consult CBI public registers and scam guidance when verifying counterparties and investment opportunities.
• The warning aligns with a broader pattern of CBI alerts on clone ICAVs and investment firms, reinforcing supervisory expectations that regulated firms operate robust controls to detect and prevent dealing with cloned entities in distribution, onboard

Suggested Considerations

• Update internal sanctions, fraud, and negative‑news screening lists and any “unauthorised firms” watchlists to include Insight Investment Solutions ICAV (CLONE) and its associated website, phone number, and email address.
• Instruct onboarding, KYC, and product‑approval teams to verify any reference to “Insight Investment Solutions ICAV” directly against the CBI registers, ensuring the Central Bank registration number and contact details match the legitimate authorised ICAV, not the clone.
• Implement or reinforce clone‑firm detection controls, including validation of firm names, registration numbers, URLs, emails, and phone numbers against official CBI (and other relevant NCA) registers before onboarding a fund, manager, or distributor.
• Circulate a targeted internal fraud/scam alert to front‑office, distribution, advisory, call‑centre, and client‑facing staff highlighting the existence of this specific clone, its identifiers, and the escalation process if approached.
• Review and, where necessary, update financial promotions and distribution due‑diligence procedures to require confirmation that any Irish ICAV referenced in marketing materials is directly verified on the CBI register and not accessed via unverified third‑party domains.
• Embed a control in third‑party risk management and outsourcing frameworks requiring checks that administrators, distributors, and introducers are not using cloned details of authorised ICAVs or investment firms.

Key Dates

Who is Affected