CENTRAL BANK REFUSES TO REVEAL INBS INQUIRY LEGAL COSTS - The Central Bank has refused to disclose its mounting multimillion-euro legal bill for the ongoing inquiry into Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS), as it would "undermine" the work of the examination and encroach on the right to privacy of lawyers involved.
The financial regulatory authority declined to provide this information on the back of a Freedom of Information (FoI) Act query from The Irish Times on fees paid to date to the three-member panel overseeing the investigation, as well as solicitors and counsel involved in the inquiry. Public hearings adjourned last week until September, after six months of evidence into the first of seven alleged breaches of financial law by former executives at the lender, before it imploded during the financial crisis at a €5.4 billion cost to taxpayers. The inquiry heard last December that it may take two years for all seven "suspected prescribed contraventions" to be covered. "The issue of costs is directly relevant to the inquiry’s proceedings and were the cost to be released while it is ongoing, in my opinion, it could reasonably be expected to prejudice the effectiveness of the inquiry," the Central Bank official dealing with the FoI query said.
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CENTRAL BANK IN HUNT FOR NEW POST-BREXIT PARTNER FOR ITS BUST-BANK SCHEME - The Central Bank is considering the appointment of a new partner to assist with the deposit guarantee scheme (DGS) in the event of a meltdown of one of the country's covered banks.
In the event of a liquidator being appointed to a credit institution, the Central Bank is obliged to pay compensation up to €100,000 per person per institution to depositors who are deemed eligible under the rules of the scheme. Payments must be made as early as possible within the statutory deadline of 20 working days. A Central Bank spokesperson said that the institution currently outsources certain elements of the DGS to a UK service provider. But all bank data transferred to a service provider in relation to the DGS must remain within the EU. The UK plans to leave the trading bloc next year. The deposit guarantee scheme covers dozens of credit institutions that are licensed by the Central Bank to undertake activities in Ireland, says the Irish Independent. It includes well-known banks such as Bank of Ireland and AIB, KBC Ireland, Permanent TSB, Ulster Bank and EBS, but also to much lesser-known institutions at home such as Hewlett-Packard International Bank and European Islamic Investment Bank, which have branches in the EU. The deposit guarantee scheme is administered by the Central Bank and is funded by the credit institutions, include credit unions and building societies, that are covered by it.
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SUPERMAC'S OWNER SUBMITS NEW PLAZA PLAN FOR M18 - Supermac's owner Pat McDonagh has restarted plans to put in place a €10m forecourt plaza on the Limerick to Galway motorway.
Mr McDonagh has published a notice of his intention to lodge fresh plans for the drive-thru just off the motorway at Skehanagh outside Ennis on the M18. The development is to include a service station, convenience shop, food court, children’s play area and picnic area and 16 charging points for electric cars, says the Irish Examiner. Forecourt operator Applegreen had been refused planning permission by Clare County Council and An Bord Pleanála for its own motorway plaza near Dromoland Castle after the five-star hotel objected to the plan. Supermac's already has plaza forecourts at Moneygall in Co Offaly and near the M6 at Loughrea in Co Galway. The Ennis plan will be seeking to repeat the success of the Barack Obama plaza at Moneygall. There is no plaza on the motorway linking Limerick to Galway but Mr McDonagh has been unsuccessful over the past four years in securing permission for the project.
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PFIZER FRUSTRATES TRUMP'S PROGNOSIS BY RAISING PRICE OF 100 BEST-KNOWN DRUGS - Pfizer has raised the prices of 100 products just weeks after US President Donald Trump claimed the pharmaceuticals industry was about to implement "massive" voluntary reductions.
In a move that threatens to fuel the backlash over the soaring cost of medicines in the US, Pfizer increased the price of some of its best-known drugs, including Viagra, the erectile dysfunction treatment, according to figures seen by the Financial Times. The increases were effective as of July 1 and in most cases were more than 9% - well above the rate of inflation in the US, which is running at about 2%. In remarks on May 30, Mr Trump said that "some of the big drug chains in two weeks [are] going to announce Voluntary massive drops in prices". No such announcements have since transpired, and it remains unclear why Mr Trump - who campaigned on lowering drug prices - predicted imminent decreases. Pfizer, the largest standalone drugmaker in the US, did decrease the prices of five products by between 16% and 44%, according to the figures. "The latest increases signal that it is ‘business as usual’ rather than the voluntary concessions that Trump indicated were coming," said Michael Rea, chief executive of Rx Savings Solutions, which makes software that helps employers and health insurers lower the amount they spend on prescription drugs.
