SEVENTH LARGEST LAW FIRM IN IRELAND DOES NOT HAVE AN OFFICE HERE - The law firm with the seventh-highest number of solicitors entitled to practice law in the Republic doesn't have an office here, the latest figures show.
Allen & Overy LLP, which has its headquarters in London and is one of the world's largest law firms, had 206 solicitors with a practising certificate from the Law Society at the end of 2019. Practising certificates cost €2,650 per annum and practising law in the Republic without a certificate is an offence, says the Irish Times. The fees from Allen & Overy would have generated €545,900 for the Law Society last year. It ranked just behind William Fry and just ahead of Byrne Wallace in a list of the top 20 law firms ranked in terms of number of solicitors with an Irish practising certificate. Solicitors from Allen & Overy, which had not featured in the top 20 list produced last year by the Law Society, took out 206 practising certificates last year. There has been a sharp rise in the number of solicitors from England and Wales taking out certificates to practice here over recent years, driven by Brexit. Most of the solicitors belong to substantial blue-chip firms, many of which also opened offices in Dublin as part of their preparations for the UK leaving the EU. In May last year the Law Society issued a practice note that set out what having an Irish practising certificate entitled a solicitor to do.
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WETHERSPOONS EYES MORE SITES FOR EXPANSION HERE - The British pub chain JD Wetherspoon says it's seeking further development sites in Ireland to expand its discount business model here.
The business - which draws ire from domestic publicans for selling beer for as little as €2.45 a pint - is expected to open three more pubs and its second hotel here this summer and another pub next year in Galway. Its Belfast-born founder and chairman, Tim Martin, says Wetherspoons is aiming to bring more competition soon to other Irish cities and towns. "We are looking at further sites across the Republic of Ireland," Mr Martin told the Irish Independent. "Hopefully, our investment will act as a catalyst for other businesses to invest in the respective areas where we are opening." Keavan's Port, the 89-bed hotel and pub under development on Dublin's Camden Street since 2017, is expected to open by July - a year later than originally hoped. That €18.5m complex is incorporating a former chapel of the Little Sisters of the Assumption as well as a circular window crafted by church decorators Early & Company. Wetherspoons also is refitting the former HQ Restaurant & Gastrobar on Hanover Quay, purchased in November after Savills Ireland listed the property in excess of €5.5m.
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COMPANIES PAID RECORD $1.43 TRILLION IN DIVIDENDS IN 2019 - Companies paid out a record $1.43 trillion (£1.10 trillion) in dividends to shareholders around the world last year.
The record-breaking annual dividend payout from listed companies was driven by strong performances in stock markets in North America and emerging economies, including by some unusually high special dividends, although global economic uncertainty slowed the annual pace of growth. The total payment was 3.5% higher than in 2018, writes today's Guardian. Analysts at the asset manager Janus Henderson studied dividends paid by the world's 1,200 largest companies in 2019. It found shareholder payouts from UK and European firms were less generous than the global average. Payouts to investors in oil companies rose more quickly, by a 10th, while dividends from telecoms stocks fell. Dividends from UK-listed companies reached $105.8 billion (£81.2 billion) in 2019, a rise of 6.2% on the previous year, boosted by large special payments from mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP, and Royal Bank of Scotland. However, the UK's underlying 2.9% growth was below the global average. In addition, many of the UK's largest dividend payers including Shell, HSBC, BP, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca have hardly increased their payments in the past four years.
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UK PORTS 'CAN'T COPE WITH SPREAD OF CORONAVIUS' - Officials at British ports lack enough resources to handle an escalation in the coronavirus crisis and operators have not been given enough guidance to prepare, industry leaders have warned.
Ministers are facing calls to provide health authorities at key sites with urgent help. As ports brace for a rise in local cases, the British Ports Association expressed doubts that controls could be tightened should the outbreak spread further, reports The Times. Richard Ballantyne, its chief executive, said port health officials "are not currently resourced enough to prepare and plan for an emergency situation". While most coronavirus cases have been diagnosed in China, the World Health Organisation has said that other countries "may only be seeing the tip of the ice-berg". There have been nine cases in Britain, of which eight patients have recovered. Mr Ballantyne said: "Port authorities are funding by local authorities who have had their budges clipped substantially over the last ten years. We have major concerns they don't have the resources to develop emergency plans and need urgent help from the government."
