BANKING INQUIRY TO ASK COWEN ABOUT HONOHAN EVIDENCE - The Oireachtas banking inquiry will ask former taoiseach Brian Cowen this week whether he has any observations on the evidence presented by Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan.
Former attorney general Paul Gallagher will also be asked whether he has anything to say in relation to Mr Honohan’s evidence, writes the Irish Times. Professor Honohan told the inquiry on Thursday that the late Brian Lenihan, finance minister at the time of the State bank guarantee of 2008, wanted to nationalise both Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society instead of including them in the guarantee. The Central Bank governor said Mr Lenihan was “overruled” by a more senior politician on that question, as he was when he “argued strongly” not to include subordinated or junior bank debt in the guarantee. Professor Honohan said Anglo should have been allowed to fail in September 2008, and said that covering subordinated debt in the guarantee was a mistake. In the wake of his evidence, it was recalled in political circles that Mr Cowen had told the Dáil the week after the guarantee that subordinated debt was included because that was the advice of the competent bodies. Under questioning from then Labour leader Eamon Gilmore on October 8th, 2008, Mr Cowen said said the Central Bank and Financial Regulator indicated which areas would be covered by the guarantee and put forward its scope. Mr Cowen said “we went with that advice” but gave no indication of a contrary view in relation to subordinated debt from Mr Lenihan.
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DANSKE BANK FORECLOSES ON ELY BAR OUTLET - Popular Irish bar chain Ely has been forced to close a profitable outlet after failing to reach a deal with exiting lender Danske Bank on a property loan. Danske foreclosed on loans attached to a property owned by restaurant and bar chain Ely, amid its speedy exit from the Irish market. Erik Robson, a director of Ely, said he believed the bank was unwilling to work with the company to restructure the loan. Celebrity-favourite Ely had fallen into arrears on the property loan, though the business it was operating at the site was profitable, says the Irish Independent. The loan was borrowed from National Irish Bank, the former name of Danske Bank. As a result the company closed its business in the fashionable Dublin district Grand Canal Dock yesterday, the busiest of all its outlets. The property has been bought by the Kylemore Group for €4.8m. Property prices have recovered significantly in the Dublin docklands area over the last 12 months. Kylemore intends to open a restaurant at the venue. All of Ely Grand Canal's 50 staff will be kept on for the new business.
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KILDARE VILLAGE RETAILER SELLS €179,000 PER WEEK - A Ralph Lauren firm that operates an outlet store in Kildare Village recorded revenues of €179,000 per week last year. New figures lodged by the Irish arm of the US luxury brand show that the firm increased its revenues by 2% from €9.1m to €9.3m in the 12 months to the end of March 29 last. Pre-tax profits for Ralph Lauren Ireland Ltd during the year declined by 81% from €784,277 to €144,151. The drop in profit is attributable to higher cost of sales, increasing by 13% from €6.1m to €6.89m, says the Irish Examiner. The directors’ report states that the company began trading in August 2007 as a factory outlet store in Kildare selling clothing and accessories. It also stated that during last year, the firm operated as the Irish commissionaire of Ralph Lauren Europe Sarl, a Swiss-registered firm, and the commission rates earned were 33% during the first three months of the financial year and 24% as of from July 2014. The report states that “all the sales were in Ireland”.
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BANKS AND CONGRESS BLAST OBAMA PLAN TO TAX WALL STREET AND WEALTHY - The banking industry and Republicans have criticised a White House proposal to increase taxes on Wall Street and the wealthy as President Barack Obama steps up efforts to seize the initiative on economic policy. Seeking to exploit a rising tide of populism in the US, he will unveil proposals in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that would pump funds raised from banks and rich families into policies likely to be popular with the middle class. Mr Obama aims to raise more than $300 billion by imposing a new levy on the US’s largest financial institutions, raising the top rate of capital gains tax to 28%, and closing a loophole that lets wealthy families pass down assets without paying tax, writes the Financial Times. The funds would pay for initiatives to boost the middle class - such as tax benefits for childcare, college education and retirement for middle class Americans - as the president continues an aggressive run of policy moves likely to shape debate in the 2016 presidential campaign. The White House said the capital gains and inheritance changes would almost exclusively affect the wealthiest 1% of Americans, and that 80% of the impact would fall on the much narrower 0.1% band, defined as those with annual income of more than $2m.
