Ernst & Young's funds listing and authorisation team is shifting en masse to prominent law firm, McCann FitzGerald.

The move will be seen as a coup for McCann FitzGerald, which did not previously have a funds listing practice.

The new business, which will initially be staffed by 12 former Ernst & Young employees, will be headed by Ms Máire O'Connor, who will join the law firm at partner level. Ms O'Connor was already at partner level in Ernst & Young, having previously worked in the funds area with Robson Rhodes and NCB.

She was involved in the first ever funds listing in Dublin in 1989 and has since risen through the ranks of what is now a firmly-established industry based in the IFSC.

A letter sent by Ernst & Young to its listing and authorisation clients last week linked the departure of the funds team to the growing independence requirements faced by auditing firms.

The letter referred to Ernst & Young's dominant market share around the world in the auditing of investment funds. The firm said it had concluded that it was in "the best interests" of its clients if the practice was terminated.

Ernst & Young went on to say that the move to McCann FitzGerald was "excellent" for the continuity and expansion of the business.

McCann FitzGerald joins three other large Dublin law firms - A&L Goodbody, Arthur Cox and Dillon Eustace - that already have funds listing and authorisation practices.

The area has grown rapidly over the past decade, with more than 3,000 funds and sub-funds currently listed on the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE). The requirement for all of these funds to have an Irish sponsor has led to the development of a a buoyant servicing sector, initially within stockbrokers and subsequently in auditing and law firms.

As well as acting as sponsor to both Irish and non-Irish funds seeking an ISE listing, McCann FitzGerald will offer to bring new funds through the Irish authorisation process and to list specialist debt securities.