Ireland

Ireland's central bank governor urged lawmakers on Wednesday to ban the advertising of crypto assets targetted at young adults, likening crypto not linked to any underlying assets to a Ponzi scheme, Reuters reported. A long-time critic of crypto assets, Gabriel Makhlouf said that while they presented minimal financial stability risk for now, the Irish regulator was very concerned about the impact on retail customers. "There's a reasonable number of young adults who have put their money into crypto and there is an uncomfortable level of advertising that is targeted at that cohort.

Up to 100 Irish businesses are tipped for a new insolvency regime this year, according to Baker Tilly, the Independent reported. Demand for the Small Company Administrative Rescue Process (SCARP) has accelerated so far this year, with six companies exiting the process in the past week alone. The process was introduced in December 2021 and provides a simplified restructuring mechanism for small companies facing financial distress. There are 23 now commenced,” Baker Tilly corporate restructuring director Dessie Morrow told the Irish Independent.

Britain and the European Union have not yet entered a more intense phase of negotiations - the so-called negotiating "tunnel" - in their talks to amend post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said, Reuters reported. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the two sides are preparing to enter the more intense phase of the long-standing negotiations as soon as next week.

More than 1,000 firms could go bust this year if the economic downturn worsens, racking up combined losses of €4bn, according to PwC’s latest insolvency barometer, the Independent reported. Construction, real estate, hospitality and arts businesses are the most at risk, the consulting firm said. A total of 527 companies went bust last year, 39pc up on 2021, when insolvencies were artificially lowered due to government supports. Irish firms that failed in 2022 owed €1.8bn between them, with the average debt per small- or medium-sized firm amounting to around €2m.

Midlands property developer Tony Diskin has secured Irish High Court approval to escape almost €25 million in Celtic Tiger-era debts from his property development business, the Irish Times reported. Mr. Justice Alexander Owens granted Mr. Diskin a personal insolvency arrangement (PIA) – a mechanism that allows individuals to escape significant bank and other debts – which will see him return to solvency with payment of a lump sum of €30,000. Some €25,000 of this will go towards repaying a fraction of his €24.9 million in debts.

A receiver has been appointed to Altada Technology Solutions, the troubled Cork-based data management and artificial intelligence company led by husband and wife duo Allan Beechinor and Niamh Parker, the Irish Times reported. Documents filed with the Companies Registration Office indicate that Grattan Boylan, Alan Bruce, Lynn Bruce and Noreen Gallagher – who provided debt finance to the company in September – have appointed Nicholas O’Dwyer, a partner in Grant Thornton as receiver to Altada after months of speculation about its future.

Ireland's central bank is to ease mortgage-lending limits to allow first-time property buyers to borrow up to four times their income, in a move it said could help meet growing building costs but could also modestly push up prices, Reuters reported. The central bank introduced limits in 2015 capping how much banks can lend for the purchase of a home relative to its value and the borrower's income in a bid to prevent a repeat of excessive lending that devastated the economy over a decade ago.

Irish inflation moderated to 8.2 per cent in September from 8.7. per cent in August, the second consecutive monthly decline in the annual rate of consumer price increase, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Thursday, the Irish Times reported. Prices have been rising steadily since April last year, triggering the worst cost of living squeeze in decades with consumer price inflation topping five per cent for 12 months in a row. The headline inflation rate declined 9.1 per cent in August to 8.7 per cent in September, the first drop-off in seven months.

A package of measures to help businesses contend with soaring energy prices will likely include low-cost loans and grants targeted at the sectors most affected, Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Varadkar said last week that the bulk of Ireland's budget surplus, expected to reach up to 5 billion euros ($4.99 billion) or around 2% of national income, should be spent on one-off measures to help consumers and businesses with rising prices.