| Ireland’s stockbroking firms come full circle |
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| Although there has been little change in recent times amongst Ireland's two largest stockbroking firms, Davy Stockbrokers and Goodbody Stockbrokers, their counterparts in the Irish market have seen a role reversal, with Merrion Capital losing its independence in favour of the wider opportunities a partnership with Icelandic bank Landsbanki can offer, and NCB choosing independence, having transacted a management buy-out of the firm last year. |
It has been an interesting past few years for Ireland’s stockbroking firms, a time which has seen the ownership of firms change several times.
Back in 1999, seven senior managers in the then Ulster Bank owned NCB Stockbrokers, including Adrian O’Carroll, Rory Gillen and John Conroy, left to set up their brokerage firm, Merrion Capital.
This new, independent firm, in which US investment firm Allen & Co had a 30 per cent stake, soon began making inroads into the market previously dominated by Davy, Goodbody and NCB, and in their first stockbroking survey in 2000, the new firm placed well, overtaking the established players in some categories.
However, it is really only in the past number of years that the firm has really made its mark on the survey, and Merrion won a number of key categories in last year’s survey, including ‘Best Equity Salesperson’ for Adrian O’Carroll, ‘Best Website’ and ‘Best for Objectivity of Equity Research’.
In this year’s survey, the firm has expanded its number of wins, and taken a number of additional key categories including ‘Best Research Report’ for Robert Brisbourne’s report on C&C.
As Merrion loses its independence in favour of the increased access to a wider audience that a multinational banking group such as its new owner Landsbanki can bring, it is interesting to note that the former employer of the founding members, NCB, is now an independent brokerage firm, following its management buy-out in 2003.
Both firms will now have access to the European market – Merrion through links with Landsbanki’s other European brokerage operations, Teather & Greenwood and Kepler Equities, and NCB through the European Securities Network, something which may prove extremely valuable given the shrinking Irish market.
On page 3 of this issue, Goodbody chief Roy Barrett writes, ‘The departure of quoted companies such as Jury’s, and potentially eircom, is not easily balanced by new issues – there is a dearth of private Irish companies of similar scale with the potential to replace them on the Stock Exchange’.
However, the new exchange introduced this year, the Irish Enterprise Exchange, is assuaging some concerns over new issues.
On page 19, Davy chief executive Tony Garry, writes that the launch of IEX has been a positive development, and that over time he would expect to see many more companies joining the market.
Also in this issue, on pages 18 and 19, we have a special feature on the European clearing and settlement, which is undergoing some significant changes. Over the past year, the European Commission has made moves to regulate the market, and it is currently conducting a regulatory impact assessment to determine whether or not a directive on cross-border clearing and settlement is required to accomplish its intended objective of making the industry more efficient.
However, the industry is against such a move, as it believes that it is an issue the industry itself, and is, addressing. Writing on page 18, Pierre Francotte, chief executive officer of international securities settlement giant Euroclear, says, ‘Misplaced or untimely intervention by Europe’s policy makers at this stage could slow or even stop that progress altogether’. |
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