The Central Bank of Ireland is closely monitoring Credit Suisse's multibillion dollar exposure to the collapse of a US hedge fund, Archegos Capital Management, and liaising with other regulators, according to sources. It will be expected to ascertain whether the Credit Suisse's Dublin prime brokerage business, played any role in trades with Archegos that prompted the Swiss group to issue a profit warning on Monday. Joe Brennan reports.
House prices in Ireland have increased by an average of €20,000 in the past year, according to property website Daft.ie. This is roughly twice the rate of the inflation seen in 2018 and 2019 and comes on the back of major "supply shock" triggered by a downturn in construction and agents deciding not to list properties because of the Covid restrictions on showing them. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the details.
Eoin also reports that several of Ireland's leading plcs have been reprimanded for failing to adequately address environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. In its latest "active ownership" report, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), said it voted against the boards of Kingspan, Medtronic and Glanbia on issues of independence, diversity and remuneration while engaging with Paddy Power Betfair owner Flutter, Bank of Ireland and AIB on their climate policies.
Almost 40 per cent of workers believe their jobs will be obsolete within five years, according to PwC. In a major survey of future work trends, the consultancy firm also found that while 40 per cent of workers around the world say their digital skills improved during the lockdown, data shows unequal access to career and training opportunities.
In other jobs news, Hewlett Packard Enterprise is to add 150 new high-tech jobs in Ireland over the next two years as the company expands its operations here, reports Ciara O'Brien. The news comes as the company also designated its Galway operation its European hub for cybersecurity operations, and said it would establish a new hybrid cloud practice to help Irish businesses accelerate their digital transformation.
The Cabinet yesterday approved the establishment of a high level review group to look at collective bargaining and industrial relations, reports Martin Wall. It is now timely to review the country's industrial relations landscape given legal challenges to parts of the existing system and international developments on how employers and trades unions engage, the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said.
In his analysis on yesterday's Government announcement to the phased changes to Covid-19 restrictions, Cliff Taylor writesthat the decision now is to go for a slow reopening – even holding off on an immediate restart of retail click and collect, for example – in the hope that this will lay the ground for a summer acceleration. The strategy will come as no surprise to businesses, even if some hoped for a faster timeline.
Families could spend half the estimated €11 billion hoarded during the pandemic should a recovery begin, the Central Bank predicted on Tuesday. Barry O'Halloran reports that household savings grew by as much as €11 billion over the last year as Covid-19 restrictions shut opportunities for workers to spend their cash.
Does the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman needs greater powers to oversee pensions? In her Bottom Line column, Fiona Reddan writes it's a curious state of affairs that the FSPO has greater oversight to award compensation against a wide range of financial services providers, including banks, investment advisers and insurance companies, but its powers are so limited when it comes to pensions.
In Commercial Property, Ronald Quinlan reports that KPMG has whittled its search for a new Dublin headquarter office down to three potential locations in the city centre. The Big Four accounting and advisory giant is weighing proposals from Hibernia Reit, the Clancourt Group and developer Shane Whelan's Westridge Real Estate with locations on Harcourt Street, Charlemont Street and Kevin Street respectively.
Ronald also reports that Nasdaq-listed Trinity Biotech's R&D laboratory and manufacturing facility at its headquarters in Bray, Co Wicklow is for sale at a price of €10.5 million. The sale of the property is expected to see strong interest from investors in the increasingly-popular life sciences sector.
The questions being asked about the future of the office in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic appear to have been answered, for now at least, writes John Shannon. According to the latest analysis from Cushman & Wakefield, some 3.3 million sq ft of office space is being sought in Dublin currently with tech firms leading the charge. The figure is significant, representing as it does 1.5 times the long-run annual average.
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