... Banking
The Financial Regulator has revealed that the six main Irish banks have loans totalling €15bn secured only against property.
Giving evidence to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs, CEO of the Financial Regulator Patrick Neary said that banks will undoubtedly suffer some losses on these property exposures.
He also outlined some measures contained in the [...]
The EU Commission has approved the Government’s €400bn guarantee that covers six Irish-owned banks and five foreign-owned financial institutions.
The announcement came as Taoiseach Brian Cowen returned from Paris where EU leaders had agreed on a big funding programme for banks and businesses.
Under the programme governments can use taxpayers’ funds to put new capital into the [...]
The Taoiseach will travel to Paris later today for an emergency meeting of leaders from the 15 countries that use the Euro.
The meeting is being held at the request of Spain.
According to French reports, the leaders may be asked to back a plan to invest taxpayers’ money in banks in order to recapitalise them, and [...]
The European Central Bank, US Federal Reserve and Bank of England have all cut their key interest rates by half a percentage point.
The ECB interest rate now stands at 3.75%, the Bank of England rate is 4.5% while the US Federal Reserve’s key rate is down to 1.5%
The US Federal reserve said it cut the [...]
The Seanad has passed emergency legislation giving effect to the €400bn Government guarantee to a range of financial institutions by 39 votes to 5.
The debate in the upper house began at 2.30am this morning, shortly after the Dáil overwhelmingly endorsed the plan.
There were some amendments to the Bill in the Seanad, so it now has [...]
British banks have complained that the Irish legislation enabling a guarantee for Irish banks’ deposits would distort competition.
The British Bankers’ Association will deliver a letter to the Government later today.
It says the move has put banks in other jurisdictions, especially in Northern Ireland, at a competitive disadvantage.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Britain’s Chancellor of [...]
The Dáil has completed the initial stage of the emergency legislation giving effect to the €400bn guarantee the Government is offering to a range of financial institutions.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said it was not a bail-out; the Opposition questioned aspects of the measure in a debate that will continue today.
Brian Lenihan opened the emergency [...]
No-frills bank accounts should be introduced to bring financially excluded people into the banking system, according to the State’s poverty watchdog.
The Combat Poverty Agency has urged the Government to abolish stamp duty on ATM and point-of-sale cards on these accounts.
It also says banks should train staff to be proactive in assisting people to open accounts.
According [...]
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has said that deposits in Irish banks are secure and that bank customers can rest confident in the knowledge that their money is safe.Mr Lenihan said that he is prepared to review the statutory guarantee limit for bank deposits, which is currently set at €20,000.
However, he said the question of [...]
Lloyds TSB has announced a £12.2bn takeover of rival Halifax Bank of Scotland.HBOS is the UK’s biggest mortgage lender and savings bank. It already has £258bn of retail deposits, and around 15m savers.
Lloyds TSB, which does the bulk of its mortgage lending under its Cheltenham & Gloucester brand, is the UK’s third biggest lender in [...]
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