Digiweb to create 200 new Dublin jobs Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007
Monday, March 26 08:33:01
(BizWorld)
Broadband provider, Digiweb, is to create 200 jobs with the opening of a new technology campus in Blanchardstown.
The new network operations centre will be the base for the company's new mobile broadband national network.
The new technology centre will carry out work on Digiweb's new mobile broadband national network and Ireland's first fourth-generation Internet and phone networks.
The firm is set to more than double its current workforce of 120. To work at full capacity 200 new employees are needed to for the new data centre. 80 of these positions will be filled straight away.
There are jobs available for Cisco, network and IP engineers, project managers and project development staff.
Most jobs to come from service sector - Thursday, July 26 10:53:07
(BizWorld)
The majority of new jobs this year will come from the services sector as the labour market begins to transition from a period of high employment growth to a more moderate rate of job creation, according to the FAS Quarterly Labour Market Commentary out today.
The report says that two contrasting trends seem to be emerging; on the one hand the demand for service workers has remained strong (reflected in a record number of FAS vacancies in H1 2007), while on the other hand demand for construction workers has weakened.
The positive economic outlook augurs well for jobs growth this year, with employment forecast to increase by 60,000 (+3pc) to almost 2.1 million. While employment growth is forecast to moderate significantly in 2008 to just over 1pc, an extra 23,000 jobs are still expected. The majority of the new jobs growth for the 2007-2008 period will come from the services sector (+70,000), FAS says.
Employment in the construction sector on the other hand is expected to fall by around 15,000 over the next 18 months as employer demand responds to a lower level of housing output.
Over 320,000 PPS numbers were issued to persons from the EU10 Member States in the first three years of EU enlargement, with 4 out of 5 migrants coming from Poland in the third year.
FAS believes that immigration from Central Europe has peaked. "While migratory flows from Central Europe remain strong they have begun to moderate since peaking towards the end of 2006. We forecast net migration to halve from 60,000 this year to 30,000 in 2008 as migrants adjust to the looser labour market."
It said that the average unemployment rate is likely to remain below 5pc for 2008 as inward-migration slows, while the numbers unemployed are forecast to rise from 99,000 in 2007 to 110,000 in 2008. Meanwhile, earnings growth in most sectors has just about kept pace with inflation resulting in little or no real increase in wages, it said.
More rapid earnings growth has been experienced by the lowest paid as a result of two minimum wage increases in 2007. In fact, Ireland now has the highest minimum wage for full-time employees in the EU after Luxembourg.
However, given that only 3pc of the full-time workforce is employed at the minimum wage, this is unlikely to have much effect on economy-wide earnings, it said.
According to FAS economist Brian McCormick, "the labour market has begun to transition from a period of high employment growth to a more moderate rate of job creation. While job losses in the construction sector seem inevitable as housing output declines, an increasing emphasis on housing quality will soften the negative impact on employment."
Recruitment buoyed by finance sector - Monday, February 13 11:06:13
(BizWorld)
More than 19,000 job advertisements were placed in the national press in January, figures revealed today.
Bank of Ireland's latest job index showed that the number was down 6pc on the same month last year, but 84pc higher than the December figure.
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Recruitment in the financial sector led the way adding 66pc to 2005 numbers, having fallen in November and December. Manufacturing was next, rising by 26pc while education was up 11pc.
The IT business led the sliders, posting its third successive monthly fall, and losing 24pc on the same month last year. The leisure and healthcare sectors were down 27pc and 20pc respectively.
Ireland jumps to fifth in growth index - Ireland jumps to fifth in growth index
Tuesday, March 21 16:38:46
(BizWorld)
Ireland has jumped three places to fifth in the latest "international super growth index".
The list, which is published by the business group Grant Thornton, is based on surveys carried out among 7,000 firms in 30 countries worldwide.
The growth index measures the number of companies operating in any one country which are enjoying growth that is greater than the average.
The company said that Ireland had the highest proportion of such companies among eurozone countries. Only the US, Hong Kong, India and Sweden were listed higher in the index.
Accountants approve new regulator - Friday, April 21 15:39:51
(BizWorld)
Members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland have voted to endorse a proposal to establish a new regulatory board for the profession, the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (CARB).
The amendments to the Institute's bye laws agreed by members now fall to be approved by the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) and the Privy Council in the UK.
ICAI President, John Greely, said the proposal has its origins in the strategic review undertaken by the Institute in 2004 which argued for a more independent regulatory function in the public interest and to allow the Institute represent the interests of its members more transparently.
The new Board will be operationally independent from the Council of the Institute and work with the Council on policy matters and will have an independent chairman and contain a majority of non-chartered accountants.
200 jobs to be created by Northern Trust -
Northern Trust is to create more than 200 jobs in Limerick in a major expansion by the US financial services company. The number of jobs, primarily in fund adminstration, could eventually double to over 400. Northern Trust confirmed that Limerick had been chosen as the location for the company's expansion in Ireland and that an announcement would be made shortly.
It is believed the decision by Northern Trust to base its new operations in Limerick is part of a wider trend among IFSC-type companies to expand outside of Dublin and into regional cities, giving the firms access to a wider labour pool and lower costs.
Vivas eyes up bid for Bupa - Courtesy of the Sunday Business Post
Sunday, November 26, 2006 By Susan Mitchell and Louise McBride
Health insurer Vivas will consider a bid to buy Bupa’s subscriber base if the British firm pulls out of the Irish market.
Oliver Tattan, chief executive of Vivas, said he would look at acquiring Bupa’s 460,000-strong subscriber base after the High Court rejected Bupa’s legal challenge to the risk equalisation scheme.
Bupa has said it would leave the Irish market if risk equalisation was introduced, though it is now to meet Minister for Health Mary Harney on Tuesday to press for changes to the scheme and to the operation of the health insurance market.
Harney is also to press the Competition Authority and the Health Insurance Agency for early delivery of a report on promoting competition in the health insurance market.
One option the report will explore is a break-up of the VHI - which controls 80 per cent of the market - into a number of smaller companies as a way to promote competition.
Tattan said Vivas, a privately-owned health insurer backed by AIB and billionaire businessman Dermot Desmond, was committed to the Irish market.
He declined to put a value on Bupa’s customer base, but industry sources valued it at between €202 million and €230 million.
Tattan said any move to buy Bupa’s book would also be conditional on getting some assurances from the government in relation to improving competition.
‘‘We took a gamble that the government would have to make the market more competitive when we came into the market,” he said. ‘‘We still believe that will happen. The non-regulation of VHI and its exemption from solvency rules are also major issues, as we are not competing on a level playing field.”
Tattan said he believed that Bupa would quit Ireland unless the scheme was modified and made ‘‘less draconian’’.
Martin O’Rourke, chief executive of Bupa, said it was unlikely that Harney would reverse her decision to introduce risk equalisation.
The Sunday Business Post understands Bupa will propose changing the risk equalisation scheme at Tuesday’s meeting.
‘‘The cost of risk equalisation depends on what scheme is put in place,” said O’Rourke.
Under the current scheme, Bupa and Vivas would have to pay subsidies to the VHI, because the semi-state company’s customers are older and less profitable.
Vivas, which was launched in October 2004, is the smallest player in Ireland’s health insurance market, with about 100,000 subscribers.
If risk equalisation were introduced in its current format, Bupa claims it would have to pay €161 million to VHI over three years, even though its profits for the same period would come to only €64 million.
Aongus Loughlin, an expert in private health insurance, said the minister could change how risk equalisation calculated the amount of compensation that insurance companies with younger customers, like Bupa, should pay to rivals with older customers, like VHI.
‘‘It’s a formula which was put together ten or 12 years ago,” said Loughlin, head of healthcare with Dublin consultancy firm Watson Wyatt. ‘‘It probably would be wise to go back and review it.”
Bupa will decide how it will react to the judge’s decision after its discussions with Harney.
G10 bankers upbeat on 2007 prospects - Monday, January 08 14:15:31
(BizWorld)
G10 central bankers are still upbeat about prospects for the global economy in 2007, with growth continuing to be very encouraging although some low-level risks remain, G10 chairman Jean-Claude Trichet said today.
Speaking after a meeting of the central bankers' group at the Bank of International Settlement (BIS) in Basel, Trichet said: 'Growth this year might be of the same magnitude as last year, maybe a bit lower'.
However, he cited various risks, foremost the threat of national protectionism, which will have to be addressed at the next round of trade negotiations.
'Another risk possible, again very unlikely, is the disorderly re-appreciation of risk in the global financial markets', he warned.
Bankers also agreed that all the risks that are associated with the price of oil and commodities remain.
Commenting on inflationary risks, Trichet said central bank policies have been key in keeping inflation at bay during the ongoing growth period, and added he was optimistic for 2007.
EU president upbeat on inflation -
Monday, February 26 16:43:47
(BizWorld)
Euro group president Jean-Claude Juncker and German finance minister Peer Steinbrueck were upbeat on the outlook for euro zone inflation ahead of the bloc's monthly gathering this evening.
"Inflation is developing quite well," Juncker said on his way into the euro group meeting, which European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet will attend.
"In the short term, the situation is under control," he said.
In January, euro zone inflation was 1.9 pct in line with the ECB's target of below but close to 2.0 pct.
Steinbrueck, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said he does not see any risks of inflation in the euro zone as long as wages are linked to productivity.
"I don't see any inflation risks as long as wage policy in Europe is based on productivity," he said. Steinbrueck said Germany is the only euro zone country with inflation consistently below the ECB's target.
Earlier, Trichet told German weekly news magazine Focus in an interview that wage restraint in Europe remains important.
"Wage restraint is and remains important. This applies not only to Germany, but all of Europe," Trichet said.
In Germany, metalworkers union IG Metall has said it planned to seek a 6.5 pct pay increase at this year's wage talks for the metal and electronic industry sector.
Greek finance minister Giorgios Alogoskoufis said the ECB is doing a good job.
"The economic situation in the euro zone is very very good," he added.
US economy slows in fourth quarter - US economy slows in fourth quarter
Monday, January 16 16:30:28
(BizWorld)
The US economy grew at the slowest pace in nearly three years in the just-concluded fourth quarter, economists now estimate.
Led by what could be the weakest consumer spending since 1991, the economy likely grew at about a 2.7pc annual pace in the quarter after 11 straight quarters of growth above 3pc, economists say.
The slowdown is just what the Federal Reserve wants at this point. The Fed has boosted its short-term interest rate target 13 times since mid-2004 in a bid to put the brakes on the economy. Above-trend growth has been sopping up excess capacity in the economy and leading to shortages and bottlenecks that can fuel inflation.
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The Fed is expected to raise rates again on Jan. 31 and likely in March. Few economists expect the slump to worsen significantly. For the first quarter, economists are estimating growth at 3.6pc, approximately the long-term potential. Most economists do see growth slowing again at the end of the year as the housing market weakens.
"The economy could get back to an above trend rate this quarter, and that is what will matter to monetary policy makers," said Joseph LaVorgna, chief US fixed income economist for Deutsche Bank.
While most economists had forecast a modest slowing in the fourth quarter, it looks as if the slump was worse than expected. At the beginning of the quarter, economists were expecting growth of about 3.2pc.
Housing was one of the few bright spots in the fourth quarter's growth mix, along with inventory rebuilding. The weak sectors were consumer spending, business investment, exports and government spending.
ECB - ECB "certain" to hike rates tomorrow
(BizWorld)
The European Central Bank is virtually certain to raise interest rates to 4pc at its governing council meeting tomorrow.
Markets, will however, be more interested in any hints of further rate hikes to follow for the rest of the year from President Trichet's after-meeting press conference.
A rate hike this week is firmly expected after Trichet said after the May 10 meeting in Dublin that the ECB had adopted a stance of "strong vigilance" on inflation risks - wording that the central bank has repeatedly used to signal an upcoming rate hike.
The ECB has steadily hiked rates in 25 basis point steps since Dec 2005, when the refi rate stood at 2.00 pct.
The central bank set out to "normalise" monetary policy after a prolonged period of very low rates, but this process is now virtually complete and the rate outlook is becoming much more uncertain.
Silvia Pepino of JP Morgan Chase said this week''s meeting is therefore an important watershed in the tightening cycle.
Although the ECB avoids using the term, many would regard monetary policy as neutral once rates reach 4.00pc, she said.
"After the hike, thus, the ECB will have to make two key judgements - first, whether policy accommodation has actually entirely been removed, and second ... whether a move into restrictive territory is required," she said.
Even though Bundesbank president Axel Weber has suggested that the ECB will stop using "codewords" to signal its rate intentions, attention will focus firmly on the wording of Trichet''s introductory statement to this week''s news conference for clues on further rate moves.
State Street expands services in Dublin - Thursday, August 16 15:08:10
(BizWorld)
Irish financial services company and fund manager, State Street today said that it will now offer securities lending services from its Dublin office as well as expanding its securities finance operations in Japan and Singapore.
Maurice Leo, who was recently appointed managing director for State Street's securities finance team, will oversee the division's product sales and account management activities in Dublin serving the Irish offshore and Middle Eastern markets.
State Street said it has also become the only global securities lending agent with dedicated, full service securities finance capabilities in Asia with the addition of an operations group in its existing securities finance office in Tokyo.
It has also expanded its client service offerings in Asia with the placement of Patsian Low, vice president, in Singapore. Patsian will oversee the securities finance business and market development activities in the region (ex-Japan).
The division's capabilities within the region now include two trading desks (one in Tokyo and one in Sydney), sales, account management and operations functions. With this expanded presence, State Street is a market leader in securities lending in Asia.
"Expanding our capabilities in these three geographies reflects the strategic importance of these growing markets for our customers," said Craig Starble, executive vice president and head of securities finance at State Street.
Global house prices: America's housing malaise is slowly spreading - Run down
Dec 6th 2007
From The Economist print edition
AMERICA'S housing market is on its sickbed. Sales of lived-in houses fell by more than a fifth in the year to October. The backlog of unsold single-family homes has risen to 10.5 months of sales, the highest for 22 years. And despite a sustained fall in housebuilding, there is still more than eight months' supply of new homes yet to be sold.
Prices are the best gauge of vitality and the American market looks either sickly or critically ill depending on who takes its temperature. The price index from OFHEO, the watchdog of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage lenders, shows that year-on-year prices were 1.8% higher in the third quarter—the weakest rise in 12 years, but a rise all the same. However, that measure misses sales above the $417,000 limit for regulated home loans, where prices were frothiest, as well as deals backed by subprime mortgages, where financing is now moribund.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index is a much broader measure and captures the house-price cycle rather better than the OFHEO gauge. It shows that national prices fell by 4.5% in the year to the third quarter, the biggest drop since the series started in 1987. Prices are falling even faster in large cities, according to S&P/Case-Shiller's more timely monthly index.
Further price declines seem likely given the toxic mix of blighted mortgage markets and swollen inventory. Less certain is whether the rest of the world will catch America's property flu. The Economist's quarterly round-up of global house prices suggests that American sneezing has already induced a few sniffles in other rich countries, but that emerging economies have so far proved immune.
Property markets in many parts of Europe have passed a turning-point. House-price inflation has dipped in France, Spain, Italy and Belgium. In Germany, where property values have been mostly falling since the mid-1990s, price declines have intensified over the past year. Ireland's long housing boom has turned to bust. Prices fell by almost 3% in the 12 months to September; a year earlier, house-price inflation was above 15%.
There are ominous signs of a downturn in Britain, too. Prices were nearly 7% higher in November than a year earlier, according to our preferred measure. But this still-healthy annual increase disguises a more worrying recent trend. Prices dropped by 0.8% from October, the biggest one-month decline since 1995. Data published by Halifax, Britain's biggest mortgage-lender, show that prices have fallen in each of the past three months, the worst streak for 12 years. The number of mortgages granted to homebuyers has tumbled by one-third since last year's peak.
How much the weaker trend across Europe owes to the credit squeeze is not clear. Banks reeling from credit-related losses are less willing and able to supply new mortgages. But demand for home loans was wilting even before the credit crisis, because of tighter monetary policy. Housing markets in some emerging economies, meanwhile, seem entirely unaffected. House-price inflation in South Africa remains in double digits. In Asia property values have picked up smartly in Singapore, Hong Kong and China. Even Japan looks a bit less depressed.
This divergence in global housing market trends is welcome support for the theory of “decoupling”, the idea that the fates of the world's economies are less tied to America than they once were. It is not just emerging markets that are following a different path. In Australia and Sweden, where house prices are still rising rapidly, central banks raised their benchmark interest rates even after the Federal Reserve started to cut rates in America. But in much of the rich world, house prices have moved in tandem over the past decade. Now that America's housing market is so poorly, the fear of infection elsewhere is spreading like a bad case of the flu.
UBS to revamp banking division - UBS to revamp banking division, job cuts
Friday, January 18 12:14:59
(BizWorld)
UBS has launched a shake-up of its investment banking division to reduce proprietary risk-taking after suffering heavy losses in the US subprime mortgage meltdown.
In an internal UBS memo, CEO Marcel Rohner said the bank, the biggest European casualty of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, will halve the number of employees in its real estate and securitisation businesses and move its mortgage investments into a separate unit.
The bank also plans to pull out of fixed-income proprietary trading in the US and combine its equity and debt underwriting operations.
The investment banking division was largely responsible for losses last year that prompted UBS to call for a 13 bln sfr capital injection in December.
Copyright: Thomson Financial
Acountants board spent E4.27m in 07 - Monday, April 28 11:34:19 (BizWorld)
The Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (CARB) spent E4.27m last year in regulating the industry concluded 138 diciplinary cases with 109 cases still on hand, according to the Board's annual report.
CARB Chairman Liam O'Reilly said the goal of the organisation is to build on the existing reputation of Chartered Accountants by delivering a high quality regulatory system which enhances the trust and respect of stakeholders.
"We were established by ICAI to enhance public confidence in the profession by demonstrating clear independence in regulation. Obviously, much of our time last year, following our formal establishment, has been spent putting in place working arrangements with all of our stakeholders which includes ICAI itself, its members, statutory oversight bodies, and of course users of the services of Chartered Accountants," he said.
By the end of the year, there were 1,683 firms regulated by CARB and 1,006 of these that held audit registration under the provisions of the Irish & UK Companies Acts.
There were 720 firms with investment business authorisation under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 and 151 that held a designated professional body issued in accordance with the Financial Services and Markets Act, 2000.
No mandatory recognition for unions -
Wednesday, May 28 09:58:41(BizWorld)
The Government has signalled, in a paper presented at the national pay talks, that it is to oppose the introduction of new legislation which would make it mandatory for employers to recognise unions.
Instead, in a document drawn up earlier this week, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment put forward proposals for amending existing legislation to take account of trade union and employer concerns. Unions have sought a new legal framework to provide for recognition and representation rights as one of five key issues they are seeking in the current talks.
However, the department said that mandatory union recognition would be completely unacceptable to employers and that the Government favoured an agreed rather than an imposed outcome. (The Irish Times)
Emerging Stronger From The Credit Crunch - Despite the shock waves from the US markets, the Irish Investment Funds sector has shown remarkable agility in bouncing back - Writes Fiona Reddan, Irish Times.
ECB Dublin meet to signal June rate rise - Tuesday, May 01 07:25:26
(BizWorld)
The ECB's May 10 meeting in Dublin Castle is widely expected to signal a 0.25pc rate hike in June.
That would bring base interest rates in the 12-member eurozone to 4pc - double the historic low of 2pc last seen in December 2005.
The June rise could also be the last, according to Dan McLaughlin, chief economist at Bank of Ireland, despite widespread speculation that interest rates will 4.25pc before the end of the year.
At this point Europe looks to have replaced the US as the main driver of global growth, he said.
With housing concerns a "drag on the economy" it is possible that US interest rates will be cut from the current level of 5.25pc to 4.5pc over the next nine months, he said.
Such a move would definitely mark the top of the cycle in the US and that would feed back into ECB interest rate policy from that point on, he said.
