Banks are to offer a range of new deals to help struggling homeowners pay their mortgages according to the Irish Independent.
The boards of AIB and Bank of Ireland met Central Bank staff in the past few days and outlined their plans to offer new solutions for mortgage holders in distress.
Permanent TSB board members will detail their plans at the end of June.
Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield said he believed a blitz on the arrears problem could help the banks get back to proper mortgage lending by the end of the year.
The banks have been given until today to provide a detailed breakdown of those customers who are likely to lose their homes, and those who will be able to remain in them if they are offered a new deal.
It will be the first time the banks will have collated and handed over such information since the economic crisis began in 2008.
Mr Elderfield said a mortgage "clean-up process was in full throttle" in the banks.
The Irish Times reports that more than 14,000 current and former staff of Eircom are set to share a tax-free windfall of about €125 million following a decision by the board of the employee share ownership trust (Esot) to wind it up after the company recently emerged from examinership with new owners.
This would amount to an average tax-free payout to Esot scheme members of €8,928.
Since the establishment of the Esot in late 1998, members have received, on average, about €62,500 each, depending on when they joined the trust.
The Irish Times has learned that the Esot will distribute €85 million in Eircom preference shares to members within a month or so.
The preference shares were segregated from the general assets of Eircom, which gave them protection from creditors and meant they did not form part of the examinership process.
The Irish Examiner reports that the head of Irish Ferries has said that initial sales indications for the summer months have been "reassuringly positive", adding that the company could also survive a collapse of the euro currency.
Speaking after yesterday’s AGM of Irish Continental Group - which owns Irish Ferries and the Eucon and Feederlink freight businesses - group chief executive Eamonn Rothwell remarked that things were looking positive after a mixed start to the year.
Mr Rothwell said that there was no real change since ICG’s last trading update - covering the first four months of this year - published earlier this month, when increased losses, declining revenue and lower debt was reported. However, he said that advance bookings for Irish Ferries’ summer schedule had been "reassuringly positive" and that visitor numbers from Britain - across all travel options, combined - should rise by between 7% and 8% this year; on the back of things like improved promotion of Ireland as a destination, the government's VAT initiatives and lowering hotel prices.
Asked about the consequences of a possible collapse of the euro zone, or an Irish exit from the single currency, Mr Rothwell was surprisingly benign; saying that it could be positive for passenger numbers and make Ireland more attractive to British holidaymakers. However, he noted it would have a more pronounced effect on the group’s freight business as it would help exporters but hinder importers.
The Financial Times reports that US benchmark borrowing costs plunged to levels last seen in 1946 and those for Germany and the UK hit all-time lows as investors took fright at what they see as a disjointed policy response to the debt crisis in Spain and Italy.
In a striking sign of the flight to haven assets German ten year bond yields fell to zero for the first time, below the equivalent rate for Japan, meaning investors are willing to lend to Berlin for no return.
US 10-year yields fell as low as 1.62 per cent, a level last reached in March 1946, according to Global Financial Data. German benchmark yields reached 1.26 per cent while Denmark’s came close to breaching the 1 per cent level, hitting 1.09 per cent. UK rates fell to 1.64 per cent, the lowest since records for benchmark borrowing costs began in 1703.
