Finance, Mazars: Mazars: What will the banking union mean for Irish banks?
Monday, October 29th, 2012Mark Kennedy, Head of Financial Services, Mazars, outlines what the European banking union will mean for the Irish banking system. “We need to move towards an integrated financial framework, open to the extent possible to all Member States wishing to participate. In this context, the European Council invites the legislators to proceed with work on the legislative proposals on the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) as a matter of priority, with the objective of agreeing on the legislative framework by 1 January 2013.” Conclusions from the European Council Summit, 18-19...[full story]
Finance: Bank restructuring: An update
Monday, October 29th, 2012Deleveraging targets are being met by Irish banks but some economists warn that too sharp a cutback in lending could slow growth. Meanwhile, the financial services sector has stabilised. The March 2011 bank restructuring strategy agreed that a prudential capital assessment review (PCAR) would place a minimum capital requirement of 10.5 per cent core tier 1 on the Irish banks and that a prudential liquidity assessment review (PLAR) would set deleveraging targets totalling €72.6 billion. Ireland’s four banks and two building societies were reduced to three banks and one asset recovery...[full story]
Finance: European Investment Bank profile
Monday, October 29th, 2012Despite the European Investment Bank’s relatively low profile, it has had a major tangible impact in Ireland since the State joined the EU. Peter Cheney explains its role. Most commentary on the continent’s banking centres on the European Central Bank, established in 1998 to serve the euro zone members (now with 17 members) and based in Frankfurt. The European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxembourg, by comparison, dates back to 1957 and is the bank for the whole EU, owned by all 27 member states. EU finance ministers make up the board of governors, while the board of directors...[full story]
Finance: IBF: Banking key to recovery and growth
Monday, October 29th, 2012Banking activity in the mortgage and SME markets provides the basis for economic recovery and growth, writes Felix O’Regan, Director of Public Affairs with the Irish Banking Federation (IBF). The Government’s programme of re-capitalisation and bank restructuring has been instrumental, with the assistance of tax-payers’ money, in putting our banks on a sounder and more stable footing than they were at the height of the financial crisis. The banking sector is gearing up to once again be a key driver of economic recovery and growth. While the scale of activity has...[full story]
Finance: Irish EU presidency: funds industry reform
Monday, October 29th, 2012Negotiations on financial services reform will co-incide with Ireland’s EU presidency and could have a significant impact in Dublin. The Irish funds industry “must be prepared for change” and therefore stay engaged with Europe as significant reform decisions approach, Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield has emphasised. The Central Bank’s Deputy Governor expects Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in early 2013, to be a key time. In Q2 2012, the value of the 12,426 Irish-administered funds stood at a record €2.16 trillion. Fifty-two...[full story]
Finance: FSI CareerStart: Proving what we ‘know’ is wrong
Monday, October 29th, 2012Helping those who have lost their jobs, FSI CareerStart is providing a route into financial services. There are lots of things we ‘know’. We ‘know’ that re-training schemes don’t turn into jobs. We ‘know’ that the financial services sector is in retreat. We ‘know’ that there are no real jobs to be had anywhere. Fortunately, we are wrong about all of these things. FSI CareerStart has helped 74 out of a group of roughly 130 people get jobs in financial services in one year. At this time in 2011, these people were just starting their courses. In fact, the recruitment...[full story]
Finance: Credit guarantee scheme
Monday, October 29th, 2012€450 million in new lending to exporting SMEs is predicted under the credit guarantee scheme but businesses question its effectiveness. Exporters’ representatives have criticised the terms of the Government’s credit guarantee scheme but ministers expect that it will create 4,000 jobs over the next three years. The €450 million scheme opened on 24 October. With a 75 per cent state guarantee to banks against losses on qualifying loans, it aims to tackle two market failures i.e. where businesses have insufficient collateral or are operating in sectors with which the banks...[full story]
Economy: An overview
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Exports, agriculture and inward investment are Ireland’s main economic successes but unemployment, emigration and low consumer demand are holding back growth. 2012 commenced on a positive note for Ireland, with news that the State is due to cut its deficit to 10.0 per cent, bettering the troika’s 10.6 per cent target. A 1.8 per cent fall in GDP since 2010, though, suggests that the overall economic situation is still fragile. Preliminary CSO statistics show a 9 per cent increase in exports of goods (unadjusted) between November 2010 and November 2011. During January-October...[full story]
Economy: The euro crisis
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012The future of the euro, and Ireland’s place in it, remains uncertain. Stephen Dineen looks at the country’s currency options. Depending on the outcome of the euro crisis, Ireland has four main currency options. It could stay in the economic and monetary union, quit the euro and establish an independent currency, or quit the euro and establish a currency linked to sterling or several currencies. Staying in the euro is seen by many economists as beneficial because it provides Ireland with currency stability, lower business costs and cheaper borrowing (through lower interest rates)....[full story]
Economy: Triple A shocks
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012The causes of the Great Recession risk being repeated, Patrick Love contends, as he reviews the downturn. Globalisation multiplies the effect of new shocks in a way never seen previously. Financial crises and recessions are nothing unusual. There were 195 stock market crashes and 84 depressions between 1860 and 2006. However, the 2007 crisis marks a turning point in that for the first time the entire world was affected. The trigger was the collapse of Lehmans, which called into question one of the unspoken assumptions of global finance: some banks are too big to fail. This assumption...[full story]
