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ICTU calls for
20p.c. corporation tax rate
In its pre-budget submission, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called for the 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate to be raised to 20 per cent and for clawback measures to offset ‘the windfall gains to the corporate and business sector’. |
This Month
The tax take and tax compliance are at the heart of policy decisions being considered currently by the Government. |
Finance officials fear expectations
Principal officers in the Department of Finance have reported that it will prove 'extremely difficult to persuade the social partners, interest groups and the public in general to accept a prudent fiscal stance.' |
Chartered secretaries call for reduced compliance cost
Speakers at the annual conference of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, which took place in October, emphasised that the burden of compliance should be rebalanced. |
European association for fund managers launched
Fund managers across Europe now have formal representation as a result of the recently established European Asset Management Association. |
Brian O’Donnell & Partners, Solicitors
Regular readers of Finance may be interested to note the appointment of Robert Ryan as a partner in Brian O'Donnell & Partners, Solicitors, the full service corporate law firm. |
Grow business, speak French
As a response to EMU, the Alliance Française in Dublin has modernised its French language training facilities to cater for more tailored corporate business. |
AIB enhances web-based payments
Fxcentre, AIB Corporate & Commercial Treasury's interactive web site, has enhanced its service by allowing importing and exporting companies to view their international payment advices online at fxcentrepro.com. |
Profit sharing should avoid ‘tax planning’
The Minister for Finance said in October that the the Government 'is prepared to consider' giving tax relief for other forms of profit sharing beyond the new Save as You Earn and Employee Share Ownership Trusts. |
Financial services must measure investment in e-commerce
Banks and insurance companies are not measuring return on investment effectively on their e-commerce initiatives, according to Ernst & Young. |
Citibank aims to be the ‘Coca Cola of banking’
'Often the more awareness there is of the product in the market the more it is trusted by the customers' said Brian Hayes, director of treasury at Citibank at the October marketing breakfast. |
ESRI too optimistic on labour
The economy cannot grow at 5% without labour shortages and wage inflation, and supply side tax measures deserve more consideration, writes Professor Brendan Walsh in an analysis the ESRI’s Medium Term Review |
No investor relations problem
The watershed events of PAC hearings and Ansbacher revelations are an issue for public more than investor relations, as investors are influenced by how a company performs - not by how it behaves, writes Mary Finan |
‘Credibility gap’ needs fixing
With inquiries and hearings likely to recur, the first steps for improving corporate governance are in the chain of internal control and the quality and independence of internal audit, writes Professor Edward Cahill |
Government and Business must move together
Aidan Pender discusses why the quality of governance systems in the
public and private sector must be consistently improved |
Fine Gael urges detailed analysis of tax surcharges
Michael Noonan argues that the surcharges on undistributed income need more analysis than three days at committee stage |
Labour sees low corporation tax as ‘economic imperative’
When Ruairi Quinn became the first Labour Party Minister for Finance in 1994, the economy didn't grind to a halt. Quite the contrary, writes Derek McDowell |
International investors keen on EBS notes
Mike Lennon tells the story of the over-subscription for EBS’ €300 million four year Euro Medium Term Notes priced at 23 basis points over Euribor |
Insurance grows faster than GDP
Insurance premiums grew by 22 p.c. from 1997 to 1998, and as the workforce continues to expand, the opportunity for the industry is to maintain growth |
Customer relationships lead to radical business change
Wesleyan Assurance, Virgin and Ford are examples where management of customer data in new channels transforms business, according to Brian Moore |
Investor relations strategies bear fruit for PLCs
Finance asked some of the stronger performers in last month’s PLC Survey to reveal some of the ingredients of behind their success |
Irish still worry about money
Gerard O’Neill writes that financial institutions need to readdress their segmentation and product development policies in order to ensure that the services they are offering actually meet the needs of the population |
Liberal tax relief for education could spur an international services industry
The recent EU recommendations on Ireland’s labour market have highlighted poor participation in training and education in the workforce. Our tax legislation relating to training is not as helpful as it might be. |
CAT needs abolition, not reform
Capital acquisitions tax is a bad system heavily patched up in a misguided effort to keep it alive. |
Development land targeted
The taxation of gains relating to development land is confused. Persons making gains from Development Land have been subject to more onerous taxation from as far back as1968. More recently and in the same vein, business property relief for CAT has largely been denied. It is now time for an overall review so that equitable treatment rather than an emotional response applies.
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Identifying an integrated set of value drivers and linking them to reward
Catherine Ryan and Gearóid Deegan highlight why an organisation
must use integrated tools, like the balanced scorecard, to sustain growth
and set executive reward policies. |
Advertising proven to boost sales and share prices
UK and Irish case histories show that effective advertising campaigns can give measurable increases to sales and market capitalisation, writes John Fanning |
Edinburgh standards
Attracting pan-European clients is vital for the investment business says Des Doran |
Treasurers must weather risk
Companies should rigorously analyse and hedge risk and look to new types of
non-financial derivatives, the annual conference of the Irish Association of Corporate Treasurers was told |
E-Bankers
According to a recent survey of financial services carried out by Ernst & Young, as soon as 2002, 14 p.c. of total technology spend will be on electronic commerce. 58 p.c. stated that PC-internet will be the most important area of technology spending, against 1 p.c. for ATMs and 13 p.c. for telephone service centres. Finance asked four banks in Ireland to profile the key person involved with their e-commerce strategy |
Strong growth in European corporate debt ratings
Irish companies which have rated corporate debt are part of the trend of European corporate debt issuance catching up the the US |
