| Life assurance bruised |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
| The Finance Act has assaulted the Life Assurance industry on three fronts. It has introduced periodic tax charges on policies; charged CGT on the foreign assets of life assurance companies operating here through branches; and granted special investigation powers to the Revenue Commissioners in relation to life assurance policies. Are Life Assurance companies to join the banking industry as popular whipping boys? |
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| Life sector wins temporary reprieve |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
| Following urgent representations by the life insurance industry, proposals introduced in the Finance Bill 2005, which would see additional charges being levied on life policies, have been amended by the Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, and the introduction of the proposals have been suspended, pending a Ministerial Order. |
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| Listening to the industry |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
| As chief executive of the Irish Bankers Federation, keeping in touch with both industry members and policy makers is a key element of Pat Farrell’s day. |
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| New head at ICAI |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
| John Greely of John P Greely and Co., Naas, (pictured above right) will succeed Terence O’Rourke of KPMG as the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. |
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| New primary dealer in gilts |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
| The Royal Bank of Scotland has been appointed by the National Treasury Management Association (NTMA) as a primary dealer in Irish government bonds. |
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| Nominations for ‘Deal of the Year’ 2005 |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
| Ireland’s leading corporate financiers have nominated a selection of the most significant corporate finance deals of 2004/2005 for the annual ‘Deal of the Year’ award, which will be announced in next month’s issue. |
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| Security costs |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
| The tax relief for employees and directors requiring security precautions by reason of their employments is so tightly drafted that the exclusions from its benefit appear almost immoral. |
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| Sharpe practices in evaluating investment performance |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
| Bernard Murphy outlines the uses and limitations of the Sharpe Ratio, which can be a useful analytic tool for evaluating the impact
of asset allocation decisions across different investment classes. Next month he looks at its impact on risk diversification. |
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| Sub-investment grade corporates should reduce their weighted average cost of capital through securitisation |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
| New research shows that financial stress has increased dramatically for sub-investment grade companies across Europe, in contrast to A rated counterparts which have been hardly affected. Declan Lynch analyses the implications for European sub-investment grade companies. |
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| Tax relief on cross-border losses - crunch time in Europe |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
| The draft judgement from the Marks & Spencer case before the European Court of Justice leaves open the possibility of retrospective claims for tax relief on cross border losses. The draft judgement places a limit on the possibility of such claims. The limit is debateable both as regards its meaning and its validity, writes Pat McDaid in this month's KPMG Tax Monitor. |
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| Treasury: Ireland follows European innovation in structured products |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
| Following the lead set by the European structured products market, the market in Ireland has grown significantly in the last five years, with the market size now estimated to be approximately €2.5 billion. The most advanced markets for structured investment products in Europe are in France, Spain, Italy, Scandinavia & Switzerland, and Joann Hosey says that future development in the Irish and the UK market will closely follow their European counterparts. |
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| Who’s who in Finance: Michael Brennan, CEO, Eagle Star |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
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| Who's who in Finance: Tony Jeffery, Actuarial Director, Hibernian Life & Pensions |
Issue: 05 / 2005 |
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| A Day in the Life: global ambitions at Bank of Ireland Global Markets |
Issue: 04 / 2005 |
| Paul Flynn, head of foreign interest rate trading at Bank of Ireland Global Markets, starts the day early, with just enough time for a swim before jumping into the deep end of another day of meetings, strategising and data watching before heading home to the real job – the family. |
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| Art market is no longer just for art lovers |
Issue: 04 / 2005 |
| Just as the property market has become a widely accepted investment class, the art market is now poised for a similar transformation, writes Bruce D. Taub. With the Mei/Moses index showing that the art market has held its own against the S&P 500, and outperformed the equities market in recent years, art is now a real alternative investment, and due to the non-correlation of price movement between art and other assets, the market offers significant opportunity to investors willing to do the research. But just as equity investors segment the market into ‘large-cap’ and ‘small-cap’ companies within a sector, it is equally important to segment within sectors of the art market, he adds. |
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