ODCE SEEKS TO WIDEN BLAME FOR FITZPATRICK TRIAL COLLAPSE - The State's corporate law watchdog has sought to cast blame beyond its office for the collapse of the criminal trial of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick.
Ian Drennan, the head of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, will tell an Oireachtas committee on Tuesday that factors which contributed to the collapse of Mr FitzPatrick’s trial "extend well beyond the failures that occurred within the ODCE". Mr FitzPatrick was accused of misleading Anglo’s auditors about the scale of his loans at the bank as the financial crisis erupted. His first trial collapsed in 2015, weeks after Kevin O’Connell, then legal adviser to the ODCE, admitted shredding a number of relevant files in a "panic", writes the Irish Times. The second trial - lasting 126 days, making it one of the longest in the history of the State - ended when Judge John Aylmer directed that Mr FitzPatrick be found not guilty after he criticised the ODCE’s handling of the investigation amid fears that evidence had been tainted. In his first appearance in front of a parliamentary committee since he was appointed director in 2012, Mr Drennan will speak about the ODCE’s botched investigation that contributed to a judge directing a jury to acquit Mr FitzPatrick after the 2017 retrial.
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BREXIT SHADOW SEES BUSINESS REIN BACK INVESTMENT - With less than six weeks to go until Brexit day, issues of the UK's exit from the European Union are clearly at the front of concerns for businesses, but others - costs, cashflow and recruitment - are high on the list.
The latest InterTradeIreland Business Monitor, a survey of 750 business managers in the North and the State, showed Brexit was a worry for 44% of small and medium sized enterprises, but rising costs were an issue for 38% and cashflow was an issue for 32% of firms. "One in five is struggling to recruit people with appropriate skills. Attracting talent has been a persistent issue for larger companies over the past three quarters and has implications for businesses that want to grow," Intertrade Ireland said in its latest survey, the largest undertaken of Irish business. So far, Brexit has been a boon for the fast-growing economy here as British companies, including the likes of banking giant Barclays, have shifted large operations here, says the Irish Independent. An estimated 4,500 jobs have been created here thanks to the threat of Brexit. But the economy is approaching its limits. Employment is at record levels and wages have started to rise more quickly, creating skills shortages. The uncertainties over Brexit have caused a hit to the British economy, with company investment falling in each of the four quarters of last year. There are signs that uncertainty is starting to bite here as well.
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BACARDI STOCKPILING DRINKS AHEAD OF BREXIT - Drinks giant Bacardi has revealed it is stockpiling booze ahead of Brexit, but dismissed the UK's impending divorce as "not even a blip on the horizon" in the firm’s 157-year history.
Amanda Almond, Bacardi’s managing director for the UK and Ireland, told the Press Association the group is taking "responsible and sensible precautions" to ward off supply issues to and from Europe. "We will take appropriate action to make sure we can secure supply, no matter what the conditions are. On a scale of what the family has weathered over the last 157 years, Brexit isn't even a blip on the horizon," she said. Ms Almond declined to give details of its stockpiling, but said the group had looked at the possible impact on its supply chain and risks of Brexit to "make sure customers can still enjoy our products". She also said it would keep its British distilleries regardless of the outcome of Brexit, says the Irish Examiner. The group - the world's largest privately held spirits company - makes its namesake rum Bacardi in Puerto Rico, but many of its other tipples are made across Europe and the UK. Martini is made in Italy, while super premium Grey Goose Vodka is distilled in France. It also has a raft of distilleries across the UK, where it makes Bombay Sapphire gin, as well as the Dewar’s and William Lawson’s blended Scotch whiskies.
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PROBLEM GAMBLERS ARE USING PAYPAL TO SPEND TO TO £150,000 A DAY - PayPal has been accused of letting problem gamblers spend up to £150,000 a day, prompting concerns that addicts are using the online payment system to circumvent bank limits.
British MPs and gambling experts called for the company to be more responsible to stop people racking up huge debts that could force them into bankruptcy. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said the Gambling Commission could consider payment providers as part of its review of gambling on credit cards, writes today's Guardian. Henrietta Bowden-Jones, a psychiatrist who founded the NHS’s only specialist gambling clinic, said: "The first time I ever heard about a gambler using PayPal to pay for online gambling occurred about two weeks ago in clinic, when a young man came accompanied by one of his parents. The patient was 20 years old, with no savings. He had been online gambling, had reached his limit on his bank card but somehow managed to withdraw by direct debit £2,000 every few minutes to continue gambling whilst his parents were asleep next door," Dr Bowden-Jones said. "When they woke up the next day, he had lost £150,000. I was horrified when I heard that this had been a legitimate use of PayPal," she added. PayPal said it was "extremely concerned" to hear the service was being misused to fund "excessive online gambling". It added that it had reviewed controls and was tightening rules around payments.
