| Compliance requirements are today’s driving force behind information security systems |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| Compliance with regulations has taken the lead as the primary driver of information security for both Irish and global companies, for the first time surpassing worms and viruses, according to a survey released by Ernst & Young. This increased requirement for compliance is forcing organisations to spend more than ever on information security, writes Pat Moran. |
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| Economists predict rates to rise further by 75 bp over coming year |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| Ireland’s leading financial services economists, responding to a survey in this issue, have predicted that interest rates will continue to rise in the Eurozone, and that the time for fixing borrowings has passed, with interest rates in the Euro zone set to ‘normalise’ after years of record lows. |
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| Financial services firms of the future will be characterised by a pervasive customer-centric culture |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| What does the future hold for the financial services industry over the next three years? In a wide-ranging article, Marie O’Connor of PWC examines the the forces driving change in the industry, such as demographics and disintermediation,and highlights some of the impacts on, and responses by, industry players. She says that the successful financial institution of the future will be characterised by a pervasive customer-centric culture and three broad hallmarks: a focus on its areas of competitive advantage; adaptation to forces of fragmentation; and the flexibility to exploit new opportunities. The pace of borrowing in many developed markets will slow as worries over debt levels continue to rise. |
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| Financial transactions and the Budget |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| Some of the measures proposed by the Minister relating to relief for interest payments seem misguided. The proposals relating to ring-fences on capital allowances need to be fleshed out but are welcome in principle. Many important measures required by the financial service industry in the context of the ending of the IFSC regime are left in limbo. The abolition of capital duty, while welcome, should not distract from these facts. |
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| First Active plc completes Ireland’s largest mortgage securitisation raising €1.75 billion |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| After over a two-year absence from the securitisation market, First Active came back with a €1.75 billion transaction in late November. Donal Corbett, Group Treasury at Ulster Bank, outlines some of the features of the deal. |
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| First Irish client for HML |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| Homeloan Management (HML), the Derry based provider of systems and process outsourcing solutions to the mortgage sector, is targeting Irish financial institutions to outsource their mortgage servicing. |
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| FOREX opportunities for 2006 – Swedish Kroner to be biggest mover |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| At the ‘Risk and Opportunities’ seminar given by Robert Sinche and Lawrence Goodman of Bank of America, Sinche and Goodman predict that the biggest currency mover will be the Swedish Kroner in 2006, in a year when changes in Japanese monetary policy will also have a significant impact. |
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| Four global new markets power ahead as the rest are left reeling behind |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| Grant Thorton’s global new markets guide 2005 reflects the disparity there is in the world’s markets. ESDAQ, TSX-V, NASDAQ and AIM have provided investors with the highest returns of any global new market for the past three year period, while other markets have experienced a period of levelling off. |
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| Fund managers will be the winners in end-of-year Christmas bonuses |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| Fund managers, stockbrokers and senior managers in corporate banking can expect to get as much as 100 per cent of their salary as end-of-year bonuses this Christmas. |
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| Increasing compliance requirements are driving compliance officer salaries up by €10,000 |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| Workers in Ireland’s financial services sector can look forward to strong bonus payments, increased job prospects and in many cases increased pay packets in 2006, according to a new salary survey by Joslin Rowe, which also reveals that the impact of the Financial Regulator has ensured that basic salaries for compliance officers and managers have increased by up to €10,000. |
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| Industry prospers but key players call for a number of changes in Finance Act 2006 |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| Ireland’s securitisation industry continues to go from strength to strength, with the latest statistics revealing that Irish investors bought seven per cent of all European structured products on the market, in the year to October, delegates at the 4th Annual Finance Dublin International Securitisation Conference were told. Also on the agenda at the two-day event was the industry’s regulatory ‘wish list’, in which a number of favoured changes were outlined for the upcoming Finance Act, as well new opportunities for the industry, which included leveraging on Dublin’s capabilities as a hedge fund servicing centre. Fiona Reddan reports from the 4th Annual Finance Dublin International Securitisation Conference. |
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| Interest rates are set to rise to 3 per cent in the Eurozone by Q1 2007 as ECB aims to ‘normalise’ rates |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| Ireland’s leading financial services economists almost unanimously predict that interest rates in the Eurozone will rise an additional 75 basis points by the first quarter of 2007. However, there is not such a clear agreement with respect to US and UK rates, as although the economists agree that US rates will continue to rise, there is no consensus on the degree of the rise, and in the UK, some believe rates will continue to rise, while others predict a fall. |
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| Interesting times |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| This month's editorial reviews the current interest rate environment as assessed by this month's assembled panel and tries to predict the future consequences of this environment. |
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| Ireland’s largest RMBS deal |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| First Active plc, part of the Ulster Bank Group, has raised €1.75 billion through the launch of its ninth public residential mortgage backed securitisation (RMBS). This is the largest Irish issue to date, building on the on-going First Active Celtic securitisation programme. |
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| Merger mysteries - creating a single European market for funds |
Issue: 12 / 2005 |
| If the EU wants to create an efficient funds industry and truly promote the free movement of capital, it should enhance the EU Framework for Investment Funds and create a true framework for the cross-border consolidation of funds, says the Forum of European Asset Managers. |
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