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Job losses threatened by insurance costs crisis
Over 400 Irish companies believe that increasing insurance costs could put them out of business and have formed the Alliance for Insurance Reform in response. |
Agreement on pan-European pensions
Political agreement has been reached on the proposal for a Directive on the provision of pan-European pensions, which marks an end to a long, complex and at times controversial discussion among member states. |
Standards priority for new Government
An extensive consultation process on future policy in relation to accounting standards in Ireland must be a high priority for the T?naiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Harney says Brian Walsh, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI) who is urging the Tanaiste to start the debate on regulation of the accounting industry in Ireland. |
Second securitisation for Anglo
Anglo Irish Bank has launched a second securitisation of UK commercial mortgages through a special purpose company, Monument Securitisation (CMBS) No.2 Limited. |
Fifteen years in the making: the Irish economy today
Dominic Sutton examines the key factors that have shaped Ireland's economy over the past 15 years including the technology boom and looks at how enlargement in the EU may impact our economic fortunes. |
Editorial
Needed - a short sharp shock |
Acquisition marks new chapter
The acquisition of US based Iridian Asset Management by Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM) marks a new chapter for the company says BIAM chief executive Willie Cotter. |
New ICAI president
Adrian Burke was elected the new president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAI) in Ireland at the institute’s annual general meeting. |
Aberdeen branches out
Aberdeen Asset Management plan to launch a private wealth management division in Ireland next month, to serve high net worth individuals. |
Flexi-time - the number one benefit
One in two people working in Dublin’s financial services companies see flexible hours as the most attractive employee benefit a benefits survey conducted by recruitment consultants Joslin Rowe has revealed. |
Cost of ‘Tobin Tax’ too high
The costs of a ‘Tobin Tax’ on financial trading could undermine its potential benefits, a study by the OECD has revealed. |
Shift toward defined schemes slower than expected
Almost 70 per cent of major pension schemes in Ireland remain defined benefit, which guarantee a pension linked to employees‚ final salaries, despite fears that there would be a significant move to cheaper defined contribution schemes, which offer no pension guarantees, a new report by the Irish Association of Pension Funds (IAPF) has found. |
Irish economy to grow at twice EU average
The Irish economy is expected to grow by around 3.75 per cent during 2002, down from 5.9 in 2001, increasing to around 5 per cent in 2003, and both growth rates are at least twice EU average growth rates, PricewaterhouseCoopers‚ latest European Economic Outlook reveals. |
Semi-state utilities to go to market
Both Bord Gais and the ESB are likely to raise funds in bond issues later this year in order to upgrade the gas and electricity supply networks. |
Going private is not always the easy option for struggling public companies
Public to private transactions are an attractive option both for shareholders and management of companies who are suffering from a lack of investor interest but the route is not always easy says Eithne Fitzgerald. |
Reflections: ’87-’02 - 15 Years of Finance
Leading figures in Ireland’s financial services sector look back on the past fifteen years and give their predictions for the future. |
Fifteen historic years - and what next can we expect?
Ken O’Brien introduces our review and outlook of the years 1987-2002. |
The future of financial services in Ireland
Can Ireland learn to manage its public finances in order to be successful through the full economic development cycle? Can AIB and Bank of Ireland maintain their independence in the face of continued takeover and merger threats? Michael Buckley, head of Ireland's largest bank, AIB, responds. |
Law firms must continue to adapt
While the composition of law firms in Ireland has changed little from 15 years ago, the market that they serve has changed significantly. Ronan Moloney says that the law firms who will continue to succeed will be those who will again learn to adapt and evolve to serve the needs of this ever-changing market. |
Dealers of the Year 1988 - 2001
In 1988, the Irish Association of Corporate Treasurers, in association with Finance, launched the ‘Dealer of the Year’ award, with the aim of promoting client consciousness amongst corporate dealers, and to provide an indication of the criteria that are ranked as most important by corporates, whose requirements and perspectives in the foreign exchange and money markets are very different to those of interbank traders. |
Dublin is a strategic location for treasury operations
Aengus Murphy traces the development of corporate treasury over the past fifteen years drawing on FTI's and the IACT's experience and says that in the future the IFSC needs to move up the value chain. |
Risk management: corporate focus in years ahead
The transactional risks associated with the entry of the euro and the events of last September 11th have highlighted the importance of managing political and economic risk says Declan O'Neill and this will be the biggest concern for treasurers in the coming years. |
Top deals of the past 15 years
Bryan Evans looks at the differences between the top deals of 1987 and 2002 and says that the growth in corporate finance activity has led to the development of an advisory infrastructure in Dublin, which equals or surpasses that of most international financial centres. |
Pensions are too complex
Gerry O’Carroll says that the pensions industry has become too complex and too highly regulated. |
The changing landscape of stockbroking in Ireland
Tony Garry compares the Irish stockbroking market fifteen years ago with the present one and finds that the changes have been dramatic both in the number of stockbroking firms in operation and the ownership of the firms. |
The changing face of the accountancy industry
Based on the experiences of the past 15 years, Anthuan Xavier says that the next fifteen is bound to be full of upheaval and further consolidation. |
Property Survey 1997- 2002
For the past six years, Ireland’s leading financial services sector economists have given their predictions on the outlook for the Irish property market based on both bearish and bullish scenarios. |
Pensions remain key investment choice
Tony Joyce examines the changes that have occurred in the Irish fund management industry over the lifetime of Finance magazine. |
‘Pipe-dream’ becomes a reality
Property will continue to remain an integral part of an investment strategy says S?an O’Brien. |
One ‘common pool’ for the trading of all stocks may yet be a reality
Looking to the future of the investment management industry, Des Doran predicts that in future there will be one ‘virtual’ trading exchange for each major time zone. |
‘Cluster effect’ is key to IFSC’s success
The greatest competitive advantage of the IFSC is the skills and drive of the employees and management of individual service providers, and the professional accounting and legal firms which has created a competitive dynamic which will be a major determinant of our competitive position going forward says Willie Slattery. |
Trend towards consolidation has vastly changed the composition of insurance market
Over the past 15 years, the domestic insurance landscape has changed significantly with the collapse of the Independent insurance company,
Generali’s departure from the Irish market and a wave of M&A ac tivity that now sees almost 75 per cent of the Irish market controlled by the five top players, writes Ian Stuart in this review and outlook of the insurance sector. |
A look back over 15 years in the investment business
Willie Cotter examines the highs and lows of the past 15 years from the stock market crash in October 1997 to how BIAM refused to bow to the ‘dot.com’ pressure in the late 1990s and emerged all the better for it, and says that their recent acquisition of US company Iridian is the beginning of a new era for BIAM. |
Dow may go as high as 16,000
Where next for the Dow? Technical guru Kieran Horlacher looked back over 20 years to answer this question. |
Experience gained abroad has been crucial
Jim Kirwan says that the flood of professionals from Ireland to financial centres such as London during the 1980s played a strong role in the dramatic growth of the IFSC and the financial services sector in Ireland. |
Finance director leads international team
World cup fever hits Dell as Martin Dobey, finance director of Dell UK and Ireland, home, small and medium business division, and his team discuss Ireland’s chances and work out a themed sales and support incentive around the World Cup. |
Tax and the programme for government
One advantage of not having an absolute D?il majority is that you need not, because you cannot, deliver on all your election manifesto promises. So let’s see how the two manifestos of the coalition parties translate into a programme for government in the taxation area. |
Surcharge
Ireland’s brave new 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate distracts attention from an effective tax rate of 40 per cent on certain passive income and an effective tax of 19 per cent on professional income of a company. It does not have to be that way. |
A blow for liberty?
You have implemented a plan to reduce your taxes in a lawful manner. Would it shock you if the Revenue asked to see the legal advice letters you got regarding the plan? This happened to Morgan Grenfell and they were shocked - and rightly so, it turns out. |
A practical approach to using derivatives: Part II
In this second of a two part series on the derivatives market Paul McEnroe looks how corporate treasures can incorporate derivatives into their hedging strategy. |
Euro to consolidate its rise against the dollar
Each month, the Finance Markets Panel, which consists of a group of leading Irish market participants and analysts, provide their views on key financial markets, covering currencies, equities and the gilt markets. |
