Bank of Scotland (Ireland) is to cease operating as a licensed bank in Ireland following a strategic review of its business here, The Irish Times reported. The company, which is owned by Lloyds Banking Group, will wind down its operations, ceasing to provide working capital and wealth management services by the end of the year, and transferring its existing Irish business to Bank of Scotland in the UK.

New proposals published by the Financial Regulator last week will make it tougher for lenders to seek repossessions and will strengthen the rights of mortgage holders in arrears, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. The planned changes are part of a proposed reform of the existing code of conduct for lenders and are aimed at easing the situation for more than 32,000 homeowners in arrears. Under the new rules, which are due to be finalised in November, lenders will have to explore all viable options with borrowers in arrears and examine alternative repayment measures.

The bailout of beleaguered building society Irish Nationwide is likely to exceed the original estimated cost of €2.7 billion by up to one-fifth, said Patrick Honohan, governor of the Central Bank, The Irish Times reported. Speaking in Beijing, China, Mr Honohan put the net cost to the Government of recapitalising Anglo Irish Bank at “about €22-€25 billion”, and on top of this, he said, would be added about €4 billion “mainly to cover one small building society”.

Ireland’s bailout of Anglo Irish Bank, a key factor behind the country’s soaring budget deficit, is “costly but manageable”, the head of th Central Bank said yesterday, The Irish Times reported. Prof Patrick Honohan, who is also part of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) governing council, said the total cost of bailouts of all Ireland’s banks and financial institutions would be around 20 per cent of GDP.

When retail giants Brown Thomas, Clerys and Arnotts flung their doors open on St Stephen's Day last year – traditionally a shop holiday – it was an appropriate end to a terrible year for the retail industry. Sales had hit a 25-year low and an estimated 30,000 jobs were lost. 2010 hasn't been much better for Ireland’s retail sector, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. Newly constructed shopping centres still stand partially, or even wholly empty, while 'to let' signs litter high streets up and down the country.

Less than a month after stress tests calmed concerns about the health of European banks, new problems in the Irish banking sector are making investors nervous once again, The Wall Street Journal reported. Earlier this week, Ireland received European Commission approval for an additional €10 billion ($13 billion) in capital for state-owned Anglo Irish Bank, on top of the €14.3 billion the government has already injected into the bank. On Wednesday, Bank of Ireland, 36%-owned by the government, reported a pretax first-half loss nearly twice as big as its loss a year earlier.

McInerney Holdings, one of the country's oldest house builders, is fighting for survival this week as it aims to strike a deal which would restructure its €236 million debt pile, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. The company is the latest in a long line of construction firms to be hit by the slump in property prices and the collapse in construction activity. At latest count, construction firms accounted for one in three insolvencies in Ireland.

The McCormick Macnaughton Caterpillar dealership in the Republic has been taken over by Canadian firm Finning, but the group’s rental businesses have ceased trading, The Irish Times reported. Assets belonging to three rental-related companies in the McCormick Macnaughton group, including three premises, will be sold off at an auction scheduled for September 4th. Management at Finning, the world’s largest Caterpillar dealer, took over the running of the dealership in west Dublin on Monday.

With loan default rates continuing to cause headaches for banks, it seems an increasing number of lenders are dabbling in debt-for-equity swaps as a viable alternative to insolvency, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. As the downturn continues to bite, and investors as scarce as hen's teeth, there's very little appetite for business assets in Ireland at the moment. Fire-sales can result in lower loan recoveries and because of this, liquidation is often not the best option for banks who wish to recover some of the debts owed to them when companies default on loans.

The number of people seeking employment assistance from the State continued to rise in July, with the Live Register jumping by 8,500 during the month and the unemployment rate rising to 13.7 per cent, its highest in 16 years, The Irish Times reported. The Central Statistics Office said the adjusted Live Register rose to 452,500 last month, with a net figure of about 1,700 more people signing on each week. This brings the unadjusted increase in the year to July to 34,403, a rise of 8 per cent. This compares with the increase of 9 per cent, or 37,420, recorded in June.