| Proposals create uncertainty as to long term tax treatment of US foreign investment |
Issue: 05 / 2009 |
| Barack Obama’s administration’s proposals on the tax treatment of the offshore profits of US multinationals creates uncertainty as to the long term tax treatment of investment decisions of US companies, writes Adrian Crawford. |
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| Real economies built on trade |
Issue: 05 / 2009 |
| Michael Sheary joined the then Dublin Port and Docks Board, now Dublin Port Company, straight from school and has served in a variety of roles until his appointment eight years ago as chief financial officer and company secretary. During his time there, the organisation has gone through unprecedented change including introducing nine competing terminals, reducing its staff by two thirds while handling five times the volume of trade, finding €250 million for investment in infrastructure and building a €200 million pension fund. All while not increasing costs to the unitised trade for twenty years. |
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| Salutary lessons from the history of economics |
Issue: 05 / 2009 |
| At the launch (sponsored by FINANCE) of the ‘The Genesis of Macroeconomics. New Ideas from Sir William Petty to Henry Thornton’ written by Antoin Murphy, professor of economics at University College Dublin Cormac O’Grada highlighted lessons that can learned from the history of economics. |
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| The economic cycle & investor trends |
Issue: 05 / 2009 |
| Following a market correction the challenge to investors is to understand that the world has not ended and economic recovery will return to the markets. Paul Martin looks at how the different stages of the economic cycle affect the appetite for risk and leverage for investors. |
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| The second chance |
Issue: 05 / 2009 |
| Ireland’s second budget for 2009 has been described as severe. It had to be that. But it has focussed more on tax increases than spending savings. The next budget will have to rebalance this if those who are being asked to bear the burden for now are to be treated fairly and long term damage to the economy is to be avoided. In the meantime the Government needs to improve its communications and let the silent majority of taxpayers know it is prepared to make some tough calls. |
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| The VAT package - are you ready for 2010? |
Issue: 05 / 2009 |
| You may not be aware of it but some big changes to the VAT regime are due to take effect on 1 January 2010. While you don’t need to know all of the technical details of the changes, it is important that you are aware of the impact of the changes on your business - what does your business need to do to be compliant and more importantly, what is the cost of getting it wrong? |
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| US multinationals will continue to benefit from Ireland’s low corporation tax |
Issue: 05 / 2009 |
| Ireland is not a tax haven so it will not prevent US multinational companies (MNCs) from benefitting from Ireland’s corporation tax regime writes Colm Kelly. The new intellectual property regime should help maintain Ireland’s attractiveness as a location for US investment. |
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| Book launch: The Genesis of Macroeconomics. New Ideas from Sir William Petty to Henry Thornton |
Issue: 03 / 2009 |
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| Coping with new corporate governance challenges |
Issue: 03 / 2009 |
| The Madoff scandal has proved a devastating blow for the fund industry both in Ireland and internationally. Directors of funds are faced with redemptions and other challenges including the valuation of illiquid assets. Kevin O’Doherty says how funds respond with these difficulties will attest to the quality of the Irish regulated financial product in the international marketplace. He says, the investment vehicles that are proven to function in times of adversity may prove more attractive than ever before. |
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| David Dillon in defence of the IFSC |
Issue: 03 / 2009 |
| In a detailed response to recent comments in the Irish Times in which Fintan O’Toole suggested the IFSC business model involves ‘cute hoorism’, David Dillon, one of Ireland’s leading funds figures, has written an extensive reply. Dillon submitted his letter to the Irish Times but it has not been published. Dillon has subsequently submitted his letter to FINANCE, the text of which can be found below. |
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| Economy health warning - more tax without the necessary steps to curb out-of-control public spending will devastate the country |
Issue: 03 / 2009 |
| Tax is a cost of production, and therefore measures to close the Budget gap through tax without the necessary first steps to curb the country’s grossly out-of-control public expenditure levels are really calls for “spend and tax”. So large is the spending gap that measures to solve the problem through tax will sink the economy into a vortex that will destroy all the gains of the past twenty years. |
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| European regulators must protect market innovation |
Issue: 03 / 2009 |
| European markets can expect further regulation. However, we must all be sure that additional regulation does not stymie the flow of capital or market innovation, writes Pierre Francotte. |
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| Forex management and refinancings playing a major role |
Issue: 03 / 2009 |
| Alan Duffy, head of HSBC Corporate Banking Ireland sees continued volatility over the coming quarter in the EUR/STG rate which continues to trade in a wide range averaging 90c to 92c. The weakness of sterling is a major issue for Irish clients trading internationally, says Duffy. Duffy spends part of his day showing his clients the options for managing foreign exchange exposure. He also looks at the provision of a bilateral facility locally to refinance a portion of debt with a client. |
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| Increased burden for financial firms in Criminal Justice Act 2008 |
Issue: 03 / 2009 |
| Carina Lawlor looks at new legislation on mutual assistance in criminal matters and says that while the act makes inroads it may mean that the provisions dealing with access to financial information might lead to financial institutions ultimately ending up bearing the associated administrative burden, costs, and threat of sanctions. |
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| Indirect taxes - the fiscal solution for 2009 and beyond? |
Issue: 03 / 2009 |
| Global economies are really suffering from the current financial and economic crisis. As a result, most governments find themselves caught in the middle of a un-precedented financial squeeze. Tax revenues are falling at the very time that governments are being forced to commit additional funding to support their banks and other key industries. It is clear that the figures just won’t add up for many governments and that the option of increasing levels of government borrowing has its limits. For many economies, increasing direct taxes on corporate profits or labour would be counter-productive in the current environment. |
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