Ireland

The Quinn family and Anglo Irish Bank will go back to court next month after a deal to settle their multibillion-euro dispute fell through, the Irish Times reported. Minister of State at the Department of Finance Simon Harris confirmed the negotiations between the two parties had collapsed and the case would “likely be settled by the courts”. The two are pencilled in for June 6th with the case likely to last six months and potentially spill into next year.

The European Central Bank provided more financial assistance to Ireland at the height of its banking crisis in 2010 than any central bank has ever provided to any country, according to the bank’s former president. Jean-Claude Trichet told Irish politicians on Thursday that the ECB had extended emergency liquidity assistance to the country’s banking sector equivalent to 100 per cent of its gross domestic product, the Financial Times reported. “That was one quarter of the ECB’s total lending at the time and was totally unprecedented,” he said.

More State banks have defended the standard variable rates (SVR) they impose on some mortgage customers. They said that while rates are kept under review there are no imminent plans to lower them, the Irish Times reported. Permanent TSB claimed that its SVR of 4.5 per cent was “competitive in the current market” adding that it “broadly reflects the various cost inputs including the cost of funds which the bank raises from a variety of sources including the retail deposit market in Ireland and the international money markets”.

Businessman Seán Quinn and members of his family have lost an appeal concerning disclosure of thousands of documents for a case brought against them by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) over an alleged assets stripping conspiracy, the Irish Times reported. A three-judge Court of Appeal on Wednesday upheld High Court orders requiring the Quinns to disclose and provide inspection of documents to lawyers representing receivers appointed over assets of the Quinns.

Ireland’s government Tuesday set out its program for life after austerity in the form of a five-year plan that will see some tax cuts, as well as increases in spending that may include pay raises for public-sector workers, The Wall Street Journal reported. In October, the government declared an end to seven years of austerity, outlining small cuts to income taxes and some increases in spending in its budget for 2015. Delivering his spring statement to lawmakers, Minister of Finance Michael Noonan promised more of the same in succeeding years.

About 2,000 Ulster Bank mortgage arrears customers who have yet to engage with the bank about a possible restructuring of their loan are to receive a new communication urging them to talk to the lender, the Irish Times reported. Ulster Bank has sent a one-page note to customers with six “commitments” on how the borrowers will be treated. This includes a commitment that their homes will not be repossessed if revised repayment terms can be agreed and offers the possibility of residual debt being written off in the case of voluntary sales.

Credit unions cannot become complacent despite having avoided the worst case scenario envisaged at the time of the financial crisis, according to the Irish League of Credit Unions registrar. In a speech due to be given at the league’s AGM, Anne Marie McKiernan was to say that while the feared failure of a significant number of credit unions had not occurred, the sector could have false sense of security and should not undo the “hard-won financial improvements” of recent years.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), which manages Ireland’s national debt, was not consulted by the government about the September 2008 bank guarantee, despite two of its most senior officials being in Government Buildings on the night the decision was made. This emerged in evidence given to the Oireachtas banking inquiry by Brendan McDonagh, the current chief executive of Nama, the National Asset Management Agency. Mr McDonagh was the NTMA’s director of finance at the time of the guarantee.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes Ireland, is seeking High Court protection from its creditors and warns it will have to cut jobs in a bid to rescue the loss-making business, the Irish Times reported. London-listed Ladbrokes, said on Tuesday that the High Court has appointed Ken Fennell as interim examiner to three Irish subsidiaries, Ladbroke (Ireland), Ladbroke Leisure and Dara Properties. The court has also granted them protection, effectively barring creditors from enforcing any debts against the three companies for up to three months.

The European Central Bank has urged the Central Bank of Ireland to accelerate the sale of sovereign bonds it holds after Anglo Irish Bank’s collapse, the Irish Times reported. The ECB welcomed moves by Dame Street to dispose of the bonds held after the Government’s move in 2013 to liquidate Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, Anglo’s successor, and scrap promissory notes issued to fund its public rescue. In its 2014 annual report, however, the ECB said the Irish authorities should speed up the process.