IMF MEETING TO FOCUS ON SLOW ECONOMIC RECOVERY AND CURRENCY TENSIONS - Finance ministers from around the world will gather in Washington DC for the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund this weekend. The meetings bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, private sector executives, and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, poverty eradication, economic development, and aid effectiveness.
Dr Alan Sinai, chief global economist at Decision Economics in Boston, says the biggest talking points at the meetings will be the state of the global economy and the progress made since the financial crisis and the current volatility in the currency markets. He says the current weak dollar is not favoured by the IMF, while the strengthening euro is also a cause of concern for the European Central Bank. The sovereign debt crisis will also feature high on the meetings' agendas and the economist says the debt situation in Ireland 'looks very bad, with the issue of potential bankruptcy'. He says similar situations also exist in Greece and Portugal. The economist says that no country wants the IMF to come in with a rescue package for it because of the punitive strings attached.
Dr Sinai says he believes such meetings are worthwhile because they set a direction for the world economy and see co-ordinated actions from countries to improve the situation.
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DUBLIN AEROSPACE WINS KEY EASYJET CONTRACT - A company called Dublin Aerospace, which maintains planes, has won a five year contract with EasyJet at Dublin airport. This means that the relatively young company goes from no employees this time last year, to about 225 within the next six months.
Dublin Aerospace's chief executive Conor McCarthy says that Easyjet has huge buying power and his company was able to a very competitive service to win the landing gear contract. The new company also has other airlines on its books, including Aer Lingus and Excel Germany as well as other contracts with EasyJet. Mr McCarthy says that the company has three hangar bays full until April and says the company's workforce will reach a peak of 225 at the peak of the overhaul season this winter.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Europe has thrown its weight behind a law demanding bankers get no more than a fifth of big bonuses in cash, overruling objections from London where banks had wanted to water down the rules. In June, the European Parliament agreed to cap the amount of cash bankers can take home during the bonus season, limiting the cash payout to one third of normal bonuses and a fifth of bumper ones. The new regime goes further than US rules and the Parliament has agreed with countries that they introduce the rules by the beginning of next year, to cover any bonus which is paid from January.
*** Citigroup has been ordered to pay more than $11m to resolve allegations that it mishandled the accounts of actor Larry Hagman, best known for playing Texas oil baron JR Ewing in Dallas. Arbitrators from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority found Citi liable in the case and directed the bank to pay Mr Hagman $1.1m in compensatory damages and $439,000 in legal fees. The panel also awarded $10m in punitive damages to the charities of Mr Hagman's choice. Mr Hagman had alleged that Citi committed fraud and breached its fiduciary duty. The allegations involved unspecified securities he held at the bank and the purchase of a life-insurance policy.
*** US luxury department stores outperformed the rest of the retail sector during September, underlining the extent to which more prosperous shoppers are leading the recovery in consumer spending.
*** On the currency markets the euro is trading at $1.3937 cents and 87.79 pence sterling.
