100 CREDIT UNIONS IN MERGER TALKS TO CREATE BIGGER UNITS - More than 100 credit unions are actively engaged in talks that are expected to see a number of them merging to form bigger units, it has been revealed.
Tie-ups between credit unions are being encouraged at official levels to allow the savings and lending bodies to achieve scale to allow them to grow their activities, writes the Irish Independent. Most of the State's 376 credit unions are owned by the members of each lender and operate separately. State body ReBo (Credit Union Restructuring Board) has been set up and funded to help voluntary mergers within the sector. The latest restructuring has seen Progressive Credit Union in North County Dublin complete the takeover of Glasnevin-based Victory. Progressive is made up of credit unions formerly known as Balbriggan, Skerries, Donabate and Howth/Sutton. The new entity will have combined assets of more than €90m, with a membership of around 40,000 people. A spokeswoman for ReBo said the appetite for mergers among credit unions throughout the country continues to grow. Since December 2014 two ReBo-approved merger proposals involving six credit unions have been completed - Health Services Staffs Credit Union have merged with St Gabriel's, Castle and CIE Staff (Cork) Credit Unions, while Progressive Credit Union have merged with The Victory Credit Union.
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DAVID DRUMM SEEKS MORE TIME TO FILE APPEAL PAPERS IN US - Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm has made an emergency request to a US court seeking more time to file legal papers arguing why it should overturn a ruling blocking a write-off of his debts. Mr Drumm asked for the deadline to submit his appeal brief, due this week, to the Massachusetts District Court to be put back to April 13th arguing that he should be given the time because he has hired a new lawyer. The former banker also wants permission from the court to increase the page limit for the brief to 40 pages, or 19,000 words, writes the Irish Times. “Counsel for the appeal is new to the case and did not participate at the trial level,” Mr Drumm said in the emergency motion to the Boston court submitted by his newly recruited attorney. “The record below was voluminous, with over 1,000 pages of testimony and several bankers’ boxes of exhibits.” He complained that the documents filed in the case were substantial. “Counsel needs additional time,” he said. Mr Drumm said there were 10 issues on appeal which “need to be researched legally and supported factually, requiring extra time and more than the allowed 30 pages to adequately address in the brief”.
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CALL FOR TAX CUTS FOR OIL EXPLORATION OPERATORS - The main representative body for Irish oil and gas exploration firms wants to see more incentives for marginal field operators, as well as a lowering of the corporate tax rate for such companies, included in the Finance Bill later in the year. The Irish Examiner says that the Department of Natural Resources has suggested it will table certain incentives for those active in the sector for inclusion in the bill, which is due to be drafted in October or November, without expanding on possible moves in detail. While not actively lobbying the Government at present, the Irish Offshore Operators’ Association (IOOA), the chief representative body for companies prospecting for oil and gas in Irish waters, has suggested such measures would help progress Ireland’s exploration sector. “It would be nice to see some incentives flagged ahead of both the closing date for licensing round applications and the publication of the Finance Bill,” said IOOA chairman Pat Shannon said. Last summer was a significant one for Ireland’s exploration sector, with the Government launching its first offshore licensing round for three years (the 2015 Atlantic Margin Oil and Gas Licensing Round is open for applications until September) and significantly altering the tax framework for the sector, with the top rate of tax on profits made from any future oil find (charges, vitally, will not be backdated to include previous finds) in Irish waters going from 40% to 55% and a 5% royalty revenue also going to the State for each year of a producing field’s lifespan.
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POLITICIANS' UNPAID LOANS HIGHLIGHT CYPRUS ECONOMIC CHALLENGE - A leaked list of politicians who owe millions in unpaid loans to Cyprus’s biggest lender has highlighted the size of the challenge facing the Mediterranean island as it tries to reinvigorate a faltering economy. A list requested by the island’s central bank, leaked to the media last week, shows 13 out of 56 members of parliament had non-performing loans worth €35.3m with the Bank of Cyprus, writes the Financial Times. The leak, which has caused uproar on the island, comes at a time when the International Monetary Fund is withholding the latest tranche of its rescue package after politicians refused to introduce laws to deal with non-performing loans. “Without the legislation in place we feel like we’re wielding a marshmallow hammer when we deal with debtors,” said John Hourican, chief executive of Bank of Cyprus. The lender has 500 staff working in its restructuring and recoveries division to deal with stressed or delinquent loans worth €11.5 billion - equivalent to about two-thirds of the island’s gross domestic product. The controversy has ensnared the central bank governor, Chrystalla Georghadji, who has been accused by a former member of the central bank’s board of leaking the loans list to save her job.
