HARRIS TO LEAD DEVELOPMENT OF NEW PLANS TO PROMOTE JOBS IN IFSC - Junior Finance Minister Simon Harris is to lead preparation of a new government strategy for the international financial services sector. Mr Harris said there needs to be a new, longer-term plan to safeguard growth and jobs in the sector. "I intend to bring together all public sector agencies involved in the financial services sector to ensure a co-ordinated and focused approach to the financial services sector. We need an agreed plan, solid actions and responsibilities assigned to specific people or agencies for each action," he said. The announcement comes the day after Dublin's ranking as a financial centre fell to 70th out of 83 international financial centres ranked in the Global Financial Centres index. The city was ranked 10th in March 2009. "This is going to be the starting point of the strategy… Ireland has seen such a huge economic fall I suppose in the last decade, that we're in the process of rebuilding. I think there's been a reputational overhang there," Mr Harris told the Irish Independent. "We need to make sure complacency hasn't set in. Yes, the financial services sector has been and is very good for this country… but other countries are doing better than us and that's the reality," he added.
***
FLYBE CONSIDERS LAUNCHING NEW IRISH ROUTES - Regional airline Flybe will consider launching new services from the Republic to follow the launch of its Dublin-London City route, where it will be taking on Cityjet and British Airways, according to its chief executive, Saad Hammad. Mr Hammad said yesterday that forward bookings on the new service were in line with what the airline had forecast when it originally decided to launch the route last April. He added that as a result of the Government’s decision to ditch the €3 travel tax and news indicating that the economy may be turning around, the airline sees the Republic as a potential growth market, reports the Irish Times. Flybe recently signed an interline deal with Aer Lingus that will allow travellers on the airline’s flights from Britain to Dublin to connect on to the Irish carrier’s transatlantic services using the same ticket. Asked if the airline was concerned about the current over Dublin Airport passenger charges involving the industry, regulator and the Government, Mr Hammad said at “a macro level”. “We have been following it, but it’s a local issue,” he said, adding that the company believed it had got the right deal in terms of its own charges.
***
WOULD-BE FIRST-TIME BUYERS FORCED TO RENT - Eight in 10 potential first-time buyers have to continue renting - as restricted access to mortgage credit prevents them from getting onto the property ladder, a new report claims. The Irish Examiner says that the research conducted by Ignite Research on behalf of mortgage insurance provider, Genworth Financial, also found that more than 70% of first-time buyers were having to rely on their parents for financial help when purchasing a new home. Commenting on the results of the survey, economist, Jim Power said they supported the findings of research that he carried out earlier in the year on the role of universal mortgage insurance in Ireland, which found it had the potential to open up access to mortgage finance to first-time buyers. “This research confirms that people in the first-time buyer segment of the market cannot access funding for new homes and are stuck either in the rental trap or continuing to place an excessive reliance on their parents,” Mr Power said.
***
RBS FORCED TO CUT PRICE OF CITIZENS IPO - Royal Bank of Scotland was forced to lower the price of shares sold in the Citizens Financial initial public offering to $21.50, to assuage investor concerns over the bank’s ability to deliver on its financial targets. RBS had earlier set a $23 to $25 price range for the sale of shares in its US commercial and consumer banking arm, says the Financial Times. RBS raised $3 billion on Tuesday, $500m lower than it would have achieved had it priced at the top of the earlier range, representing 25% of Citizens’ stock. That figure rises to $3.46 billion if an overallotment option is exercised. Cutting the offer price marks a setback for the British bank majority-owned by the UK taxpayer, given the investor excitement around this month’s $25 billion IPO of Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce giant, on the New York Stock Exchange. But it also comes after a lacklustre performance by other large financial sector IPOs this year. Under the terms of its 2008 government bailout, the EU gave RBS until the end of 2016 to sell Citizens, with a 12-month extension available if markets are unfavourable. “The sale of Citizens is an integral part of the RBS capital plan,” said Ross McEwan, chief executive of RBS. “Selling Citizens will significantly improve our capital position and help us to create a strong and secure bank that can continue to fully support the needs of its customers.”
