URGENT TALKS AS NAMA LOSES ONE IN 10 STAFF THIS YEAR - NAMA has lost 10% of its staff so far this year and is in talks with government over how it can retain key employees. Since the start of this year 37 staff members have left the agency, which has a total workforce of 370, chief executive Brendan McDonagh said yesterday. He declined to comment on whether he has been approached by private sector employers looking to lure him away from NAMA, writes the Irish Independent. The inability to retain staff is a “concern” at the moment. Hypothetically, if it continues to lose people at the current rate it could become a risk to its ability to deliver housing and office developments that have been requested by Finance Minister Michael Noonan, he said. “The minister acknowledged this himself in his Section 27 review (of NAMA),” Mr McDonagh said. Asked if he has been approached by prospective employers, Mr McDonagh declined to comment. “I won’t comment on myself, it would be unfair,” he said. Mr McDonagh was speaking at the International Corporate Restructuring Summit 2014, organised by Business & Finance in the Convention Centre in Dublin yesterday.
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HOPES GROW FOR END TO AER LINGUS PENSION ROW - Hopes are growing that a solution to the row over pensions at Aer Lingus and the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has moved a step closer, with the airline gearing up to get investor backing for a once-off €191m contribution to a fund that will replace the existing insolvent scheme. Aer Lingus, DAA, trades union and other stakeholders have been in deadlock for several years over how to plug a €780 million hole in the Irish Aviation Superannuation Scheme (IASS), whose members include workers in both the airline and airport, says the Irish Times. The latest proposal for resolving the dispute involves a contribution of €191 million from Aer Lingus and €73 million from DAA to a new fund that will replace the IASS. Aer Lingus told brokers this week it hopes the issue can finally be resolved by the end of this year and is planning to hold an egm to get shareholder approval for the €191 million contribution in early to mid December. It has also agreed terms with its unions which they will put to a ballot of their members in a process that is expected to last until the end of next month. Around the same time, the trustees will seek approval for the entire settlement from the Pensions Board, the State’s regulator. Earlier this year the trustees drew up a plan involving a clawback from retired workers and a 20% benefit cut for current staff.
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DIRECTORS BELIEVE FIRMS 'RUN BETTER' - An overwhelming majority of Irish directors believe the way firms are run has improved in recent years, says the Irish Examiner. More than 80% of the 260 directors surveyed by the Institute of Directors in Ireland (IoD) feel the standard of corporate governance among firms has improved recently, while seven out of 10 believe those running companies have learned from governance failings of the past. Governance of the financial-services sector, which has previously been criticised in light of the economic downturn, is deemed to be “good to very good” by more than half of those surveyed (55%), pointing to confidence among directors that newly-introduced regulation is having the desired effect on the industry. IoD chief executive Maura Quinn said that while improvements have been made, real diversity and transparency has yet to be achieved.
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BANKS' VAT BILLS SET TO SOAR AFTER EUROPE COURT RULING - Banks and insurers in Europe are bracing for extra value added tax bills that could potentially run into billions of euros after an unexpected decision from the European Court of Justice, reports the Financial Times. The ruling on a dispute between Skandia America Corporation, a US arm of the insurer, and the Swedish tax authority means that services supplied between a group’s headquarters and its branches are set to be subject to VAT. Stephen Morse, a tax partner at PwC, said many financial services companies operating in Europe would see their VAT bills soar. He said individual charges for the biggest banks and insurance firms could rise by tens of millions of euros. “The case significantly expands the VAT net for financial services firms. Banks and insurers are likely to be affected most,” he said. The ruling means that previously VAT-free services will now be subject to the tax - at rates of between 15-27%. The industry will not be able to recover the VAT charges in the way other businesses can as they are deemed to be VAT exempt, resulting in significant extra costs for the firms. The ruling concerns the costs shared between the head office and its branches in other countries, which will now become liable to VAT. Until now, European VAT law allowed countries to treat companies and their overseas branches as single entities for VAT purposes.
