DAA EARNED €36M FROM AIRPORT CAR PARKS IN 2015 - The Irish Times reports that State-owned DAA earned €36m in revenues from its car parks at Dublin and Cork airports in 2015.
The paper states the DAA does not publish figures annually for its car-parking revenues but data is provided in a prospectus filed for €400m in loan notes issued by the airport manager last year and which are due to mature in 2028.
This income represented about 5% of the group’s turnover in 2015, and about 15 % of the two airports’ commercial revenues, the document states.
According to the prospectus, some 83% of activity at Dublin Airport’s car park was from online bookings in that year. This figure has since hit about 90%.
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BOI TRIED TO MAKE TRACKER VICTIMS PAY THOUSANDS IN TAX - Bank of Ireland has been accused of attempting to "pull a fast one" on its customers by getting them to pay tax due on tracker refunds, the Irish Independent reports.
The move is in contrast to other banks caught up in the scandal, which are covering the costs of tax repayments due to Revenue.
In some cases, tax bills of €5,500 are due to be paid.
The paper reports that following a row with the Central Bank, Bank of Ireland backed down over the payments.
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SURGE IN SWISS BANKS' REPORTING OF SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY BY SAUDI CLIENTS - The Financial Times reports that Switzerland’s banks have begun reporting suspicious account activity among some of their Saudi Arabian clients to the Swiss Money Laundering Reporting Office, part of the federal police service, according to people close to the situation.
Lawyers acting for the banks have submitted information over the past week and expect several dozen submissions to be made in total, two people involved in the process said.
The exercise reflects the banks’ nervousness about being found in breach of rules governing money laundering and corruption. It follows the arrest last month of more than 200 people, including some of Saudi Arabia’s richest businessmen and princes.
They were detained at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh as part of an anti-graft operation launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s powerful heir apparent.
