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Fee income grows by 11 per cent
Fee income of top Irish accountancy firms rises to over •570 million, but salary growth to plateau over coming year. |
EFR supports Pensions Directive
The completion of a single market for pensions in Europe would create substantial benefits for consumers across Europe, and for economic growth, a report published by the European Financial Services Round Table (EFR), the pan-European association of financial services groups, has revealed. |
No Irish IPOs for 2002
C&C may not go to market again, a panel of Ireland’s leading corporate financiers have predicted. |
Editorial
At a time when corporate revenues are under pressure, and profits in decline an annual growth rate of 11 per cent for Ireland’s leading accountancy firms is good, particularly against against an inflation rate of approximately 4 per cent in Ireland, even though it is down on last year’s annual rate of 16 per cent. |
Everybody needs standards
Brian Walsh says that there needs to be extensive debate between Government and industry before an EU regulation is adopted, which will require all public companies to comply with IAS. |
Basel II deadline postponed
Due to several delays, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has postponed the date of implementation of the New Capital Accord from 2005 until 2006. |
Bankers present IFSRA report
A report commissioned by the Irish Bankers’ Federation on the implications of the new Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA), which allows for the establishment of a single regulator, has been presented to the Government and the Central Bank for review. |
Liquidity boosted
Irish Government bonds are now listed on MTS Ireland and EuroMTS, two electronic trading platforms. |
Accountancy network rebrands
O’Hare & Associates, a chartered accountancy and business advisory firm based in Dublin, is to change its name to Baker Tilly O’Hare as part of a worldwide re-branding exercise by member firms of Baker Tilly International - a network of over 100 chartered accountancy firms. |
First investment for new VC firm
BOI Venture Capital Limited, a subsidiary of Bank of Ireland, has invested •2 million in Kildare based waste management company, Advanced Environmental Solutions (Ireland) Limited, (AES). |
FINANCE Accountancy Survey 2002
Over the last year the accountancy industry has shown strong growth in fee income, while the level of recruitment and the rate of salary increases have been more subdued. |
Leading accountants believe economy is ‘robust’ but are concerned over public spending
Managing partners from four of Ireland’s foremost accountancy firms share their views on how the industry is performing.
Commenting on regulation, the economy and practice management issues the participants in Finance’s forum are:
Jerome Kennedy from KPMG, Donal O’Connor from PricewaterhouseCoopers, Pat Kenny from Deloitte & Touche and Paul Smith from Ernst & Young. |
The changing face of retail banking in Ireland
In the first of a two part series, Derek Moriarty examines the changing landscape of Irish retail banking and says that faced with increasing competition from new entrants such as Northern Rock, banks will have to demonstrate radical new capabilities to profitably capture the growth opportunities likely to exist in the market. |
Investing in private equity: the pros and cons
Frank Kenny says that despite the bursting of the dot.com bubble, above average returns can be still be attained by investing in private equity, even in the early stage technology sector. |
Banks need a new approach to IT spending
It is doubtful whether the benefits reaped by spending on new technology are being passed on to bank’s customers says John Wright, and he recommends that banks adopt a new approach that focuses on ‘tele-consulting’ rather than ‘tele-sales’. |
Implications of the new Basel Capital Accord for investors
Len Riddell examines the stock market implications of Basel II and says that the bigger Irish banks such as Bank of Ireland are likely to benefit from the proposed new regulations but that it could prove challenging for smaller operations. |
Why use derivatives?
Philip Lenehan says that when used to hedge risks rather than speculate, derivatives are valuable tools and don’t deserve the bad press they have received. |
Euro is still undervalued
Since the start of May, we have seen the euro rally from 0.91 to within touching distance of parity with the US dollar. What has caused this 10 per cent appreciation? And where will it end? Niall Dunne says the cause can be expressed in one short phrase: it’s a crisis of confidence. Where it will end is more difficult to predict. |
Diary of a Deal: Permanent tsb's merger integration programme
Voted 'Deal of the Year' in Finance's annual corporate finance survey in the April 2002 edition by Ireland's top plcs, the acquisition of TSB Bank by Irish Permanent has proven to be one of the more successful financial services unions in recent times. In this deal profile, Gerry Danaher, head of the integration team, talks us through the key decision making aspects of the merger from which companies IT systems to choose, to the selection of the top management team, at all times aiming to attain the 'best of both'. |
The offshore rules
Media and political hype have made ‘offshore’ synonymous with ‘tax evasion’. Having assets offshore, or having a trust, is not the same thing as tax evasion. It is possible to minimise tax through use of offshore structures and be fully tax compliant. But not necessarily all taxpayers who use trusts or place assets offshore are fully tax compliant. |
Revenue audits
A Revenue audit is rarely welcome even by compliant taxpayers. Part of the terror it inspires is fear of the unknown. The Revenue Commissioners have issued a draft code of practice in relation to Revenue audits which should help allay fears. |
An introduction to securitisation in Ireland
In the first of a two part series, Mark Thorne and Conor Houlihan write a primer on securitisation and examine current securitisation opportunities in Dublin. |
Securitisation evolves
Securitisation has evolved in recent years as a financial structure. It has changed from being a low-cost low-risk means of raising finance to becoming additionally a potential form of risk sharing. It is likely to be a permanent feature of the financial landscape, despite the current bad press for off balance sheet vehicles. Irish tax law needs to change in response to the changes in securitisation itself. |
Information provider
Thalius Hecksher, account & new business manager for Reuters Ireland Ltd keeps an eye on the markets while scouting for new business. |
Who’s who in Finance: Paul Kenny, Mercer Human Resource Consulting
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Who’s who in Finance: David Manifold, Group Finance Director, Calyx Ltd
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Who’s who in Finance: Peter Crowley, Chief Executive, IBI Corporate Finance
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After parity - where next for the dollar?
Each month, the Finance Markets Panel, which consists of leading Irish market participants and analysts, provides views on key financial markets, covering currencies, equities and the gilt markets. |
