Richard Pym – Steering AIB in shark infested waters
His most high-profile gig until now was at Britain’s Co-operative Bank, where he took over as chairman in June 2013 in the wake of disgraced ex-chairman Paul Flowers. Flowers was the media doyen and ordained Methodist minister who fell spectacularly from grace after he was filmed buying cocaine and methamphetamines in his car in 2010. He was later accused of covering up child sex abuse scandals and hiring rent boys. …
Central Bank suffers €75m paper loss as gold plunges
Finance Minister Michael Noonan has revealed that the value of the Central Bank’s gold deposits was €168m at the end of last year – a decrease of €75m on the €243m put on the value of gold at the end of 2012.
The reversal last year more than wiped out two years of gains by the Central Bank after its gold holding increased from €203.79m at the start of 2011 …
‘We won’t bankrupt you,’ NAMA tells developers who co-operate
The assurances come as an increasing number of developers in NAMA have moved to England and declared bankruptcy under that country’s relatively lax bankruptcy laws.
A total of 65 NAMA debtors have declared bankruptcy in the UK or US.
NAMA is worried that developers have little incentive to continue co-operating with the toxic loans agency if they know that they are likely to be forced into bankruptcy at the end …
Rise of services in modern economies does not herald mass unemployment
Last week’s slew of data on the state of the economy contained many nuggets. Among them was the sheer scale of Ireland’s services exports, the value of which last year exceeded the value of manufactured goods exports for the first time.
In this regard Ireland is unique. While most countries have seen their services exports increase, reflecting the rise and rise of services provision in economic activity, in no other …
Eircom rings around as it weighs sale vs IPO
ADVISORS for Eircom have approached some of Europe’s largest private-equity firms as the company weighs the possibility of a sale as an alternative to returning to the stock market.
UK-based Apax Partners, CVC Capital Partners and US multinational KKR & Co are among buyout firms that have been approached to form a consortium for the Dublin-based firm.
Officials at Eircom, Apax and CVC declined to comment. KKR representatives didn’t immediately …