| Accountancy firms prominent in corporate finance league table for 2004 |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| Accountancy firms were busy in the corporate finance market in 2004, with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and KPMG all in the top ten of the most active firms by number of deals. IBI Corporate Finance, followed by Davy, topped the table, while Deutsche Bank and KPMG, were top for the highest value of deals transacted. |
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| Banks are well placed to raise Tier One capital |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| Irish banks are in a strong position to take advantage of the pent-up demand for institutional investments, with funding through Tier One capital, which is normally the core or permanent capital, becoming an increasingly attractive option. In December of 2004, AIB became the latest in a growing line of Irish banks to execute a successful funding through Tier One capital issuance, raising €1 billion. |
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| Barclays Capital targets Irish corporate treasury market for major expansion, with staff numbers up 50 per cent in 2005 |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| As head of treasury at Barclays Capital in Dublin, Ciaran Kane is kept very busy gearing up for significant expansion in 2005, with staff numbers at the bank expected to grow by almost 50 per cent. The day starts with a conference call at 6.30am and takes in company research, a client lunch - kept south of the Liffey for time's sake - US economic indicators, staff meetings, administration, while still managing to achieve his 6.00pm 'early' Friday escape target! |
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| Bush’s more benign tax policy |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| At the time of the US presidential election in November 2004, concerns were expressed that the Democratic candidate, John Kerry, and his running mate John Edwards, might initiate changes in the US tax system that would prove unfavorable to Ireland. |
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| Bush's profit repatriation scheme to benefit Ireland |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| The US Jobs Creation Act 2004, which gives American companies with foreign subsidiaries a one year window to repatriate profits to the US where they will be taxed at just 5.25 per cent, should not impact investment in Ireland. According to Pat O’Brien, tax partner with KPMG, ‘In the long run the Jobs Creation Act of 2004 is more likely to have a positive impact in Ireland than a negative impact. The boost it has given to Ireland as a shipping and aircraft location may have greater significance than any impact of the repatriation of earnings by US subsidiaries in Ireland.' |
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| Careers in finance and financial services: Profile of a wealth manager |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| Wealth managers are likely to be in ever greater demand as the Irish economy continues to thrive, but Kevin Quinn, an associate director with Bank of Ireland Private Banking, writes that experience of other financial sectors, from accounting to life and pensions, is as important as the right qualifications. |
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| Contracts may become unenforceable under forthcoming distance marketing regulations |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| With transposition of the Distance Marketing Directive imminent, it is advisable for financial services firms to commence a review of their documentation now and at the very least draft addenda to existing contracts/ terms of business, Orla Beaton recommends. |
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| Directors face difficult task in implementing new compliance requirements |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| Section 45 of the Companies Act contains some of the most significant changes so far made to the legal requirements for directors, greatly increasing their duties. Included among the new requirements are the preparation of a Directors' Compliance Statement and a Directors' Related Statement, which must be certified and attached to the annual accounts. Jacqueline Cross and Joseph Beashel look at how directors can meet this plethora of new demands. |
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| Environment is good for wealth managers |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| Good wealth managers will always be in demand and prospects in the private banking market are good for the right people, but Mia Barry writes that those interested in the sector must be willing to prove themselves in what is becoming an increasingly competitive environment. |
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| Equities and property are still best bets despite tight spread of returns |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| Investment returns in equities, bonds, commodities and property have been uncommonly close over the past year. Eugene Kiernan looks at the reasons behind these performances and explains why equities and property are still the safest bets. |
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| FINANCE Stockbroking survey winners see mid-caps as the strongest bet |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| The accumulated wisdom of the dominant players in the Irish institutional investment market voted the following analysts the best in the business in 2004's FINANCE Stockbroking Survey. Here they give their stock tips for 2005. |
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| Germany comes into the property investor's viewfinder, and Irish investors are eyeing up attractive opportunities there |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| Irish investors have taken advantage of a rare opportunity to get into the German property market. Elmar Schilling writes that, with German investors off the scene, domestic banks are now looking to foreign investors to buoy up the depressed market - with the added attraction of some real yield growth in the near future. |
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| Giant fund for Cardinal |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| Cardinal Asset Management, the Dublin and London based hedge fund manger, is readying what will probably be one of the largest hedge fund launches of 2005. |
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| IFRS - now companies must communicate effectively |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| European listed companies must prepare their consolidated financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) with effect for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2005. However, the scale of IFRS implementation is broader than that, with a recent Deloitte study indicating that 92 countries will either require or permit the use of IFRS for publicly traded companies in 2005, writes Brendan Jennings. |
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| Industry reponds to call by Government for simplification of financial law and proposes new strategy |
Issue: 01 / 2005 |
| Government moves to consolidate and simplify financial services legislation and regulation are very welcome but the overall process requires a strategic approach, writes Enda Twomey, adding that Irish Bankers Federation, in conjunction with other industry groups, have proposed a high-level strategic model. |
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