| Dublin’s new law quarter |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| Mason Hayes & Curran has become the first Irish law firm to move its headquarters to Dublin’s Grand Canal Quay area, having moved in on April 18th. The area has so far attracted many of the top legal firms in the country, with Dillon Eustace set to shortly move into its new headquarters on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. |
| |
| Factors behind the recent decoupling of euro area stock prices from those in the US |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| Over the past year, stock prices have posted large gains in the Euro area, while they have stagnated in the United States. The European Central Bank (ECB) have recently put forward some of the reasons why. |
| |
| IAS 39 is a ‘bad standard’ |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), highlighted the cultural difficulties the body faces when setting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) at a recent speech when he said, ‘In Ireland everything is permitted unless prohibited. In Germany everything is prohibited unless permitted’. |
| |
| IEX doubles in size in its first year |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| The market capitalisation of the Irish Enterprise Exchange (IEX) market has more than doubled to €1.17 billion, since it was launched one year ago. |
| |
| Industry can afford no more surprises from Government as speakers focus on maintaining competitiveness |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| Over 250 delegates heard from a number of leading industry speakers, including the Financial Regulator Patrick Neary, and Internal Markets Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, at the 6th Finance Dublin Conference 2006, which took place on March 28th and 29th in Dublin Castle. Central to many discussions at the event was the disappointment felt by the industry over the Government’s abolition of the remittance basis of taxation, and the fear that another ‘surprise’ might destroy the sector. Other issues discussed at the event included the creep of complacency into the sector, Ireland’s declining competitiveness vis-a-vis other jurisdictions, and the regulatory burden facing companies. On the positive side, numerous opportunities for growth were identified across all sectors. |
| |
| Insurance reporting |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| Financial reporting and governance in the insurance and reinsurance industries have never been under such pressure, and a forthcoming conference on financial reporting issues for international insurance & reinsurance companies, aims to address some of the key questions.
For full details see insert with this issue or: http://www.insurance-institute.ie/training/seminars.html |
| |
| International Profile: Ebru Nuhoglu coordinator at Is Dublin Financial Services plc |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| Ebru Nuhoglu has been working as coordinator of Is Dublin Financial Services plc, which is the Irish subsidiary of Turkey’s second largest bank Isbank, since November 2003. She enjoys the general atmosphere of working in Ireland, and finds the overall commitment from both Government and industry to develop Ireland as a centre for chosen niche markets, ‘quite amazing’. |
| |
| Ireland’s innovative capital markets |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| This month’s special review of Ireland’s capital markets provides a timely reminder of the depth and complexity of deals being transacted in the Irish market. |
| |
| Irish banks struggle with Basel |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| Banks in Ireland, and the EU generally, are struggling with the regulatory traffic jam of Basel, IFRS and in many cases - Sarbanes Oxley. |
| |
| Irish Stock Exchange is ‘at a crossroads’ says leading corporate financier |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| The Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) is ‘at a crossroads’, according to Peter Crowley, chief executive of IBI Corporate Finance, and the further concentration of the ISEQ index on a small number of large financial stocks is not a healthy sign for the exchange, he added. |
| |
| Issuers transact a number of firsts in innovative year |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| Ireland’s first whole business securitisation, and the increasing popularity of private placements, which are now a more popular funding instrument than corporate bonds, are ‘trends that are expected to continue’ over the coming year, say leading market practitioners, while growth in syndicated loans, which exceeded €13 billion in 2005, is also set to continue into 2006. |
| |
| Market very active in innovative year |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| Ireland’s first whole business securitisation, and the first Irish Tier 1 Capital preference shares deal, are just some of the deals being nominated for this year’s ‘Capital Markets Deals of the Year’ survey. The nominations are chosen by a panel of corporate bankers and lawyers to reflect the best and most innovative deals of the past year. We look at why these deals were nominated and the key trends in Ireland’s capital markets over the past year, such as continued growth in private placements, and syndicated loans. |
| |
| MiFID seminar focuses on implementation of Level 2 measures |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| The Irish Bankers Federation (IBF) and Oracle held a seminar on the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) on April 6th at the Westbury Hotel, Dubin. The event was attended by over 100 financial services practitioners and confirmed this Directive as a leading concern for the industry. |
| |
| National Irish to offer broking services |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| National Irish Bank’s parent, the Dankse Bank Group, has joined the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) as a member, to provide Dankse Bank Group and National Irish Bank customers with trading opportunities in Irish equities. |
| |
| Risk and controls reporting - can you see the risk wood for the compliance trees? |
Issue: 04 / 2006 |
| The onslaught of new regulations and corporate governance requirements such as Cadbury, Turnbull, and Higgs, as well as Sarbanes-Oxley and Basel II, are causing companies to suffer from compliance fatigue. The symptoms of this condition include an inability to see beyond complying with the next initiative, and a desire to stick simply to the letter of the law in applying governance recommendations, writes Conor Griffin. To overcome this, companies need to achieve real control of corporate governance, which requires direct and active involvement at the highest level. |
| |
