Ireland

KBC Group Ireland has set €14 million aside to cover an expected Central Bank fine for its involvement in the tracker mortgage scandal going back more than a decade, The Irish Times reported. The figure was part of a wider €18 million tracker-related provision that the Belgian-owned bank booked in the third quarter of the year, it said on Thursday. The charge drove a reduction in the bank’s net profit for the period to €4.4 million from €33.6 million for the corresponding three months in 2018. The wider KBC Group’s profit dipped to €612 million from €701 million.

A proposed personal insolvency arrangement for retired High Court taxing master James Flynn, who has debts of just over €5 million, does not meet a condition necessary for the court to consider whether or not to approve it, a High Court judge has ruled, The Irish Times reported. Mr Justice Denis McDonald was ruling on a preliminary issue concerning an application by Mr Flynn’s personal insolvency practitioner (PIP) after his insolvency arrangement failed to win the support of a majority of his creditors.

Expansion costs at part of the country’s fastest growing hospitality group, Paddy McKillen jnr’s Press Up group last year put a lid on returns, with pre-tax profits halving to €887,929, The Irish Times reported. New accounts filed by Orsen Ltd with the Companies Office show profits at this part of Press Up fell as revenues increased by 22.6 per cent from €57.86 million to €70.95 million. Press Up opened 12 new businesses across eight new sites last year.

Credit unions in the Republic may have to withdraw €1.8 billion of deposits and investments lodged with financial institutions in the UK in the event of a disorderly Brexit, it has emerged, The Irish Times reported. Fianna Fáil’s spokesman on finance, Michael McGrath, has raised concerns about the matter this week after he received a response to a parliamentary question, which clarified that credit unions will not be allowed to hold investments in institutions in a so-called third country outside the EU.

The High Court this week ruled a vulture fund could not enforce a repossession order, pending insolvency proceedings, The Sun reported. Ex-model Flood and restaurateur hubby Ronan Ryan have been locked in a long legal battle to keep the €900,000 house in Clontarf, Dublin. But after facing down the eviction threat, Pamela last night told the Irish Sun of her relief at keeping the family pad. The 48-year-old mum-of-four beamed: “It’s much better news than before. We’re better, it’s a lot better than it was.

Sean Dunne, once one of Ireland’s richest men, told an American court last week that he earns just €200 a month and is therefore unable to pay a sanction of $9,330 (€8,500) imposed on him earlier this year, The Irish Times reported. “As I am now bankrupt, I have great difficulty in obtaining work,” said the one-time Irish property tycoon in a sworn affidavit dated October 3rd.

Irish lender AIB Group Plc added its name to a growing list of borrowers shunning English law for their riskiest bank bonds in preparation for life after Brexit, Bloomberg News reported. The state-owned bank used Irish law for a sale of contingent convertible bonds on Wednesday that are set to replace its existing English-law governed notes. The move reflects a wider trend among European banks. Only 14% of euro-denominated CoCo paper sold by European lenders this year is governed by English law, down from more than 40% before 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Revenue has succeeded in its High Court application to have a provisional liquidator appointed to a Co Meath-based bus company, The Irish Times reported. Mr Justice Richard Humphreys on Wednesday appointed insolvency practitioner Aidan Murphy, of Crowe Ireland, as provisional liquidator to Enfield Coaches Ltd, of Rathcore, Enfield, Co Meath. The court heard that the company provides coach and related transport services. At the High Court, Arthur Cunningham, for the Collector General of the Revenue Commissioners, said his client was owed €39,000 as unpaid PAYE, PRSI and interest.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe was briefed by his officials to warn the new governor of the Central Bank to keep a close eye on costs, according to documents released under freedom-of-information legislation, The Irish Times reported. The warning came in advance of the Minister’s meeting with Gabriel Makhlouf, who paid a two-day visit to Ireland ahead of taking up his role full time on September 1st. “It is understandable that the cost base of the [Central] Bank has risen with the increase in regulatory reach and powers.

The High Court has confirmed the appointment of an examiner to water firm Celtic Pure, which was at the centre of recent product recalls, The Irish Times reported. Mr Justice Michael Quinn also heard that there have been 20 expressions of interest from potential investors in the firm. Last month, the Co Monaghan-based provider of bottled drinking water sought the protection of the court from its creditors due to the fall out from two investigations launched after naturally occurring arsenic in some of the firm’s batches exceeded regulatory limits.