| Huge increase in M&A activity in Q1 |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| Deals worth more than €2 billion were completed during the first quarter of 2004, representing a six-fold increase on the same quarter in 2003. |
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| Insurance premium tax - how to reduce your insurance costs |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| Insurance premium taxes tend to attract little attention. However insurance is becoming an increasingly large part of the cost of doing business and inevitably planning to minimise its cost is becoming important Brian Daly writes. |
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| Ireland’s Common Collective Fund |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| The Common Collective Fund (CCF) is Dublin’s answer to part of the pan EU pension dilemma. It attempts to address some of the problems and costs faced by multinationals in organising group-wide pensions. However it is not, and does not pretend to be a pan EU pension fund. |
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| Ireland’s response to Enron - what it will mean |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| The Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Act 2003 was signed into law on 23rd December 2003. However, the actual sections of the Act will only be commenced following a Ministerial order after a consultation process between the Minister and relevant industry bodies. The Act is further testament to what is becoming a worldwide response to a perceived lack of adequate controls and regulation of companies, their directors and auditors and is an area of concern, write Paula Kelleher and Gregory Reilly, which has been highlighted, in recent times with corporate scandals in both Europe and the US. |
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| Leveraging on the Dublin franchise |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| Using the Dublin franchise to grow your company was the main topic of the fifth annual Finance Dublin conference, and case studies from recent success stories such as Merrill Lynch and Hypo Real Estate International identified how they expanded their Dublin operations. |
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| Liquidity management products for corporate treasurers: the options continue to grow |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| A current hot trend amongst both corporates and banks is cash management with many Treasurers now realising the benefits of bringing cash into their front office. With the recent ratings downgrades resulting in higher borrowing costs and banks suffering ratio limitations due to Basle 2, treasurers and bankers alike have been forced to look at alternatives for providing liquidity. The need to utilise in-house funds, and the simultaneous growth in money market funds has caused finance professionals to look at cash in a new light, writes Annemarie Moore. |
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| Majority say euro is set to decline against dollar |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| Euro will decline against dollar but will remain strong. |
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| New CFO for Waterford Wedgewood |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| After ten years as chief financial officer of luxury goods company Waterford Wedgewood plc, Richard Barnes is to step down. |
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| New diploma on accounting standards launched |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) has created a new diploma course for chartered accountants on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). |
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| New head at Merrion Corporate Finance |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| Dan Ennis has been appointed head of corporate finance at Merrion Capital, replacing Pat Landy who left last summer. |
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| Playing the game of life |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| Alan Lewis is one of international rugby’s best-known referees, and was involved in the Rugby World Cup 2003, as well as the Six Nations this year. But he also has a day job, and is managing director of Lewis Hohn Williams, an insurance brokerage. |
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| RBS’ surprise acquisition of First Active wins ‘Deal of the Year’ 2004 |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| Of the deals nominated for this year’s ‘Deal of the Year’ competition, the acquisition of First Active in October, a deal which took the market by surprise, has been voted the top deal of the past year by Ireland’s leading corporates, followed by the management buy-out of Riverdeep, and the acquisition of the Telford Group by the Grafton Group. |
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| Readying banks and insurance companies for IAS in 2005 |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| International accounting standards (IFRS/IAS) must be adopted in 2005, and to inform and assist international banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions with their requirement to prepare accounts in accordance with IAS, a series of conferences are being held by IASeminars Ltd. |
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| Retail assets increase by 17p.c. amongst IAIM members |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| Members of the Irish Association of Investment Management (IAIM) managed €19 billion of assets in retail products at the end of December 2003, an increase of 17 per cent on the December 2002 level, according to the association’s latest survey on trends in the retail market. |
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| Retail assets rise by 17 per cent in 2003 |
Issue: 04 / 2004 |
| Retail assets of IAIM members grew to €19 billion or by 17 per cent in 2003, boosted by renewed level of confidence by investors in equity related products, and continued flows into SSIA products writes Gary Connolly. |
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