CLAIMS THAT NAMA WILL CAUSE ‘STATE OF CRISIS’ - The Irish Times is reporting that five leading property developers have told the European Commission that the market for new houses here is likely to “descend into a state of crisis” by the time NAMA winds up operations in 2020.
According to the paper, the developers said this is because so few non-Nama builders and developers will still be in business by that stage, due to an inability to compete on level terms with the State agency.
“When Nama is eventually wound up, the market for new houses is likely to descend into a state of crisis far more severe than the current situation, as a result of the lack of surviving property developers who are capable of producing the volume of housing required annually,” the developers state in their complaint to the commission, which was filed on Friday.
The complaint was filed by developers David Daly, Paddy McKillen and Michael O’Flynn, and by Dublin-based companies New Generation Homes and MKN Properties.
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REVENUE BRINGS IN DATA EXPERT TO ADDRESS TAX FRAUD - Daniel Sinnott has joined the Revenue Commissioners in the newly created role of chief analytics officer, having previously held a variety of private sector consulting and analytics roles, according to the Irish Independent.
The paper writes that because of the nature of its activities, Revenue interacts with more Irish citizens than any other State body and so has access to an unparalleled amount of citizens' data.
This is only increasing - this year the tax authority was approved to begin monitoring credit and debit cards to help determine if their owners are avoiding tax. The data is among indicators used to gauge whether a person is living beyond their disclosed means, a sign they may not be declaring all of their taxable income.
"Data analytics is increasingly at the core of forward-thinking businesses," said Revenue chairman Niall Cody earlier in 2015. "There is no reason why tax administrations should be any different."
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CLANWILLIAM GROUP TAKES CONTROL OF CLAIMSUITE - The Dublin-based Clanwilliam Group has struck a deal with Sláinte Healthcare that will see it assume control of Claimsuite, which was developed by Sláinte to assist hospitals claim payments from insurers.
Today’s Irish Examiner reports that Claimsure’s software applications are in use in over 50 hospitals in Ireland with customers including the HSE and private hospitals.
The deal will see Claimsure’s existing 29 employees transfer with the company to the Clanwilliam Group while Sláinte Healthcare and Claimsure founder, Andrew Murphy will also remain involved.
“Clanwilliam is in many ways the perfect home for Claimsure Sláinte Ireland,” Clanwilliam chief executive, Howard Beggs said. “Our priority is finding businesses we can partner with, and Claimsure can now draw on the resources and expertise of the wider Group,” the Examiner quotes Mr Murphy as saying.
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CENTRAL BANKS URGED TO IGNORE MARKETS OVER MONETARY POLICIES - The Financial Times is reporting that the Bank for International Settlements has said that central banks should press ahead with plans to tighten monetary policy and not let market volatility sway their judgment.
The move comes ahead of the expected first rate rise by the US Federal Reserve in nine years.
the warning comes amid signs of increasing investor concern over the increasingly more risky US corporate bond market, with borrowing costs for the lowest-rated companies climbing to their highest level since the financial crisis.
The FT says UBS estimated last week that up to $1 trillion of US corporate bonds and loans rated below investment grade could be in the danger zone.
“People are going to be carried out on stretchers,” said Laird Landmann, a senior bond fund manager at TCW, a California asset manager.
