BANKS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHALLENGE STRESS TEST FINDINGS - The Central Bank has resolved that Ireland's banks will not be able to challenge the findings this week of crunch stress tests, an exercise which will clear the way for the fifth bank bailout since the 2008 guarantee, says the Irish Times. The participating institutions - Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Banks, Irish Life Permanent and the Educational Building Society - will not be able to seek any lower loan loss estimates in the tests or revised capital requirements.The tests are expected to show a further capital hole at the lenders of between €18 billion and €23 billion. This could push State injections into the banks from €46 billion to between €64 billion and €69 billion. There has been speculation for weeks that the tests would show a need for more than the €35 billion in the EU-IMF package. "We have no reason to believe that the financial assistance programme would not be sufficient," said the spokesman for economics commissioner Olli Rehn. After flaws in the last Irish stress test were blamed for undermining confidence in a wider test of European banks, the Central Bank has been seeking to protect the independence and integrity of the process. The exercise is under close scrutiny in Brussels and Frankfurt, particularly in light of Government claims it could present an "unsustainable" debt burden to the State. In anticipation of the test results, the ECB is preparing a "medium-term liquidity facility", tailor-made for the Irish banks, to replace an existing scheme under which the banks receive some €60 billion in short-term liquidity funding.
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IRELAND NOW 'RIPE' FOR AN INCREASE IN TAKEOVER ACTIVITY - Ireland is missing out on a Europe-wide surge in corporate deal making, according to research by Thomson Reuters, even though corporate financiers think the market here is ripe for a pick-up in activity. Across Europe, takeover activity shot up 65% in the first quarter, led by deals like Deutsche Boerse's $10 billion acquisition of its New York-based rival NYSE and AT&T's $39 billion acquisition of Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA. In Ireland, the pace is far less intense but corporate advisers say the European surge will translate into deals here as cash-rich corporations extend their hunt for new assets. The research compiled for the Irish Independent shows that the volume of Irish takeover deals fell over the first quarter of 2011 to €810m, down from €3.3 billion in the same period a year ago. So far this year 48 takeover deals have been announced, compared to 57 by the end of March 2010. The research shows that Dublin-based A&L Goodbody remains the top Mergers & Acquisitions adviser among Irish law firms. A&L Goodbody advised clients on three corporate deals worth €260m in the first quarter of the year. There is little to celebrate in topping the table however. At the same stage last year the firms had been instructed on deals worth more than €1 billion.
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FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS WITH COMBINED SALES OF €42m TO MEET AT FORUM - Sixty female entrepreneurs employing 500 people with combined sales of €42 million meet today to plan strategies to grow their businesses, says today's Irish Examiner. And the participants in the two-day Going for Growth Programme forum, aimed at helping women entrepreneurs achieve their growth ambitions, plan to increase their sales to €196m in five years time employing more than 900 people. Under the programme "lead" entrepreneurs - who have built successful businesses - mentor young companies and help them achieve their growth goals. It is supported and funded by the European Social Fund, Enterprise Ireland and the Equality for Women Measure, Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affair. The national director and founder of Going for Growth Paula Fitzsimons said the National Forum gives women entrepreneurs an opportunity to network, learn, and be inspired as they set out to grow their businesses. ''We may be in the midst of one of the worst economic downturns in modern times, but that has not put a halt to the huge entrepreneurial spirit that exists amongst Irish business women," she said.
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CABLE CONFIRMS ENDING OF 50p TAX RATE, AND REVEALS 'MANSION TAX' PLANS - The British business secretary, Vince Cable, has confirmed the 50p rate on tax will be abolished - and revealed the government would consider bringing in a 'mansions tax' to ensure the wealthiest pay their way. The chancellor, George Osborne, ordered a review of tax on top earners in the budget last week, restating that the 50p rate on those who earn above £150,000 was only temporary, and triggering speculation that the rate could be wound down as soon as 2013. Cable in two interviews raised the issue of the rate and alternatives to it. The move would leave the government exposed to accusations that it is softening taxes for the rich, amid intense public anxiety about the fairness of the cuts. The business secretary's intervention comes just a day after up to 500,000 people took to the streets to demonstrate against the government's economic plans. Labour pointed out that the coalition would be reducing the tax for the richest while forcing the poorest to lose the largest proportion of their pay packets through the VAT hike. Cable, who argued in opposition for a 0.5% levy on properties worth more than £1m, told the BBC's Politics Show: "I and George Osborne agree that we have to move away from extremely high marginal rates of tax on income, including that [the 50p rate of tax]."
