Ireland

New rules regarding the subordinated debt of Irish banks, including Bank of Ireland and AIB, and a proposal to transfer the deposits of Irish Nationwide Building Society to Anglo Irish Bank, are expected to be introduced tomorrow as part of the Credit Institutions (Stabilisation) Bill 2010, the Irish Times reported.

Irish lawmakers are expected to pass a parliamentary vote on accepting a €67.5 billion ($89.2 billion) aid package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Brian Cowen's Fianna Fail party, is expected to win the vote with the support of lawmakers unaffiliated to any political party. The government has already passed parts of its 2011 budget with the help of independent lawmakers' support.

Ireland's lawmakers narrowly voted Thursday to cut welfare benefits and debated a raft of other cost-slashing measures, but their efforts to combat Europe's worst deficit didn't stop the Fitch agency from slashing the nation's credit rating, the Associated Press reported. A legislative bill to cut payments to the unemployed, single parents, children, the blind and disabled passed on an 80-75 vote that reflected Prime Minister Brian Cowen's slim majority in parliament.

The deadline for second-round bids for Quinn Insurance passed yesterday as the likelihood of a sale to a trade buyer grows amid uncertainty over the future of State-owned Anglo Irish Bank, the Irish Times reported. The bank has submitted a joint bid with US insurance giant Liberty Mutual, which has also submitted an offer to take over the general insurance part of the firm. Anglo has shelved plans for a solo offer due to considerable regulatory hurdles facing the proposal as the cost of the bank has soared to as much as €34 billion.

A metaphor for Ireland's financial humiliation would be harder to find than the hearing held Tuesday morning in the airy boardroom of a downtown Boston law firm, Reuters reported. On the same day that Dublin's government was unveiling a deeply unpopular austerity budget in the wake of the country's banking crisis, former chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank David Drumm was forced to testify under oath for the first time about his holdings as part of a complex bankruptcy process that puts at risk his remaining properties, vehicles and even his ability to buy gifts for his children.

Ireland took the first crucial step Tuesday on an expected four-year road to financial recovery by securing support for a budget that will make €6 billion ($7.99 billion) in cuts across all sectors of society, from the most vulnerable welfare recipients to the country's political elite, The Wall Street Journal reported. Despite pressure from some quarters of the international community, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan pledged to maintain Ireland's corporate tax rate, one of the lowest in Europe.

Ireland's cash-strapped government wants some of the country's workers to do something they haven't for years: pay income taxes, The Wall Street Journal reported. Roughly half of Ireland's 2.2 million workers don't pay any tax on personal income, a policy likely to disappear over the next few years if Ireland's new budget is approved Tuesday as is widely expected. European officials have said passing the new austerity budget for 2011 is a requirement of the European Union and International Monetary Fund's €67.5 billion ($90 billion) rescue.

The pained debate over a $112 billion international rescue package for Ireland will come to a crunch on Tuesday when a politically weakened Prime Minister Brian Cowen goes to Parliament seeking approval for the harshest austerity program of any government in Europe. But beyond the financial pain, the bitterest pill for the Irish may be the dawning realization that the country’s finances could fall under a foreign yoke for the next 20 or 30 years, the International Herald Tribune reported.

Former Anglo Irish Bank Chief Executive David Drumm will have to testify about his assets and conduct running the fallen Irish financial giant, under a deal his attorneys struck in bankruptcy court in Boston on Thursday, Reuters reported. The testimony could paint a much fuller picture of the life that Drumm has been living in Massachusetts after stepping down from the helm of Anglo-Irish at the end of 2008, just before the government nationalized the bank. The collapse of the bank was among the factors leading the country to seek an emergency international aid package last month.

Former financial regulator Pat Neary has told one of the investigations into Anglo Irish Bank that it was not surprising banks would carry out transactions to put “a gloss” on their published accounts. Mr Neary also told investigators he was never shown in advance a balance sheet for Anglo for the year ending September 30th, 2008, by anyone at the bank, the Irish Times reported. The investigations are examining the €7 billion in deposits placed with the bank by Irish Life and Permanent (IL&P) over the bank’s 2008 financial year-end.