Ireland has been among a number of EU suitors looking to attract the Brexit business of companies relocating from the UK in order to maintain a presence in the single market. Financial services and insurance are two sectors in particular where Ireland will be seeking to benefit, however, the country has been overlooked recently by at least two high-profile firms.
Yesterday, insurance market Lloyd's of London announced it had selected Brussels for an EU subsidiary, while earlier this month, another multinational insurer, AIG, said it would be setting up an EU hub in Luxembourg. Dublin had reportedly been shortlisted in both cases.
CEO of Insurance Ireland Kevin Thompson says he does not think Ireland is doing anything wrong with regard to attracting Brexit business here. "I think we have a strong sector, we have a strong international hub, but equally we need to recognise that hub competes in a very competitive environment against other jurisdictions," he added.
Insurance Ireland is calling on the country to reassess its approach to realise future opportunities in this realm. In reference to the Central Bank highlighting it has received five applications for authorisation from foreign insurance companies wanting to locate an operation here, Mr Thompson said: "We naturally always have a return every year outside of the Brexit phenomenon ... there would be a steady flow of applications coming through to our jurisdiction.
"What I think we need to unpick in relation to that is what has been the uplift of applications as a result of Brexit".
On Ireland's overhauled regulatory environment, the Insurance Ireland CEO said we need to look at if we are highlighting the fact sufficiently. Mr Thompson added that we want "a strong and proportionate regulatory environment that safeguards consumers but equally always the flexibility for our sector to continue its strong growth trajectory. "We have to take lessons from the past, but equally we have to have confidence in the new regulatory environment which we have implemented".
MORNING BRIEFS - Property investment company Hibernia REIT has announced it has pre-let two floors in its 1 Windmill Lane development to data integration services firm Informatica Ireland. Informatica Ireland, which is a subsidiary of its US-headquartered parent, will occupy the fourth and fifth floors of the building, totalling 35,000 sq ft, on a 17 year lease, with 12 years term certain. It will pay initial rent of €2.1m a year and will receive six months rent free from completion, which is expected to be in the middle of this year.
*** The Luxembourg-headquartered firm, Alter Domus, is to create 60 jobs through the opening of its second Irish office in Cork. The fund and corporate services provider already has an office in Dublin, which was set up in 2011. Its main business here is in aircraft leasing, private equity, real estate and debt.
*** US President Donald Trump will today sign executive orders aimed at identifying abuses that are causing massive US trade deficits and clamping down on non-payment of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on imports. The directives allow Trump to focus on meeting his campaign promises to combat the flow of unfairly traded imports into the US. The review will also study effects of trade deals that have failed to produced forecast benefits. And will focus on those countries that have chronic goods trade surpluses with the US. China tops the list, with a $347 billion surplus last year, followed by Japan, with a $69 billion surplus. But Ireland is in the top five, with a trade surplus of $36 billion with the US last year.
*** Consumer sentiment here improved slightly this month, largely because of an easing of concerns about household finances. That is according to the latest consumer sentiment survey from KBC and the ESRI. However, the study also states "a still uncertain economic outlook" means consumers remain relatively cautious and this was reflected in a marginal weakening of spending intentions. Three of the five components of the Irish consumer sentiment survey posted stronger readings in March when compared with the previous month. Of these, the most notable related to the trend of improving confidence in household financial circumstances in the past year.
