Ireland

The European Central Bank has urged the Irish government to narrow the category of debtors who will be eligible for its new insolvency regime, warning that current proposals could impact on the capital adequacy of the country's lenders, Reuters reported. In response to growing arrears among homeowners and outdated bankruptcy laws, Ireland has proposed new non-judicial routes for struggling mortgage holders to settle both unsecured and secured debts of up to 3 million euros ($3.9 million). The new laws are currently in the draft stage.

New figures show no slowdown in job losses. The number of people at work in the April-June period fell by nearly 14,000, the biggest three-month fall in a year, according to the Central Statistics Office, the Irish Times reported. The figures appear to dash hopes that employment growth is at hand. They show there were 1,783,400 people employed on a seasonally adjusted basis in the second quarter, meaning there are 357,000 fewer people at work since employment peaked in 2007.

Allied Irish Bank was duped into lending nearly £800 million to two British alleged fraudsters to buy 16 commercial properties in Britain at the height of the property boom on the back of forged documentation, a London court was told yesterday, the Irish Times. Achilleas Kallakis and his co- defendant Alexander Williams face 23 charges of fraud in the retrial, which began in Southwark Crown Court in London yesterday and could last for several months.

Danish-owned National Irish Bank (NIB) will turn its attention to its head office after completing a round of cuts that will see it lay off one-quarter of its workers and shutting its retail operation, the Irish Times reported. NIB, owned by Danske Bank, said in June it intended to close its 27 branches in the Republic and seek 100 redundancies from its 442-strong workforce. Yesterday, the bank confirmed it intended to review its head office in the first quarter of next year and inform staff of its findings during the second three months of 2013.

The Irish banks would require a “huge increase” in fresh capital if they adopted “unusual rules” in dealing with mortgage arrears and wrote off problem loans, the chief executive of Permanent TSB said, the Irish Times reported. Jeremy Masding told the Oireachtas finance committee in a letter that the stress tests of the banks, which identified a €4 billion capital shortfall at Permanent TSB, assumed the banks would deal with mortgage arrears as they would normally run their banks.

The prospect of Ireland securing a deal in October on banking debt relief has receded after Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said it was in Dublin’s interests not to rush agreement, the Irish Times reported. Rather than rush to meet the late October deadline set by EU economics commissioner Olli Rehn, Mr Noonan suggested Ireland could get better terms on easing its multibillion debt by waiting until Spain secured assistance for its banks.

Almost half of small businesses have been refused bank credit in the last three months, according to a Bank Watch survey by industry group Isme. This finding follows a Central Bank report which last month claimed Ireland was second only to Greece in terms of refusing loans to small businesses, a claim rejected by the Irish Banking Federation, the Irish Times reported. According to the Isme survey, 49 per cent of respondent firms said they had been turned down for credit in the last three months.

The temporary transfer of ownership of Ireland’s banks to the European Stability Mechanism could reduce funding costs, boost profitability and support economic recovery, the IMF said Monday, the Irish Times reported. In a staff report on Ireland, it called on Europe to help the State to lower the cost of rescuing the banking system, which has to date cost some €64 billion, by making good on a June 29th commitment by euro area leaders to break the link between sovereign and banking debt.

The Government will this week face calls to alter incoming personal insolvency legislation so the €3 million upper limit of debt is reduced and debtors will not have to sell engagement rings, the Irish Times reported. The European Commission has warned that the debt threshold is too high for a scheme aimed at struggling homeowners. Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has said expensive jewellery could not be exempt from debt relief mechanisms.

IBEC, the group which represents businesses and employers, has called on the Government to allow individuals to access certain classes of pensions earlier than scheduled as a “once-off crisis response” measure, the Irish Times reported. Noting the success of similar schemes in countries such as Denmark and Iceland, Ibec said such a measure would provide a domestic economic stimulus of €1.8 billion.