A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

Ryanair takes complaint on state aid to EC

Ryanair has made a complaint to the European Commission against what it says amounts to an estimated €1 billion in state aid given by the French government to Air France.

The French government's airport charging system allows for up to 50 per cent lower landing and passenger charges for domestic routes than routes between France and other EU member states. Ryanair said this was illegal under European law and had furthered Air France's dominance in the French market.

Ryanair is calling on the commission to force the French government to change its charging system and force Air France to repay the money.

Business2Arts award shortlist

Collaborations between Bank of Ireland Arts Centre and Mostly Modern; Accenture and Fishamble Theatre Company; and Anglo Irish Bank and the Abbey Theatre were yesterday named in the shortlist for Allianz Ireland's Business2Arts awards 2006.

The awards, now in their 15th year, will be presented by the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, at a dinner in the Mansion House in Dublin on May 31st.

Concern over EC roaming proposals

The European Regulators Group (ERG) yesterday expressed concerns over European Commission proposals to regulate mobile phone roaming charges.

While the ERG supports the commission's objective of a substantial reduction in average retail roaming prices, it said it has significant reservations about the regulatory mechanisms proposed by the commission. The ERG says it favours wholesale regulation rather than retail regulation and believes that charges should only be regulated at a retail level if wholesale price reductions have not been passed on to customers. The ERG also said it welcomed the price reductions that had already been made by mobile phone operators.

Airline chairman increases stake

British Midland's chairman, Michael Bishop, has increased his stake in the airline, which also owns bmi, bmi regional and bmibaby, to 50 per cent plus one share.

He raised his stake through the purchase of the minority interests in the BBW Partnership.

Regulator warns on Swiss company

The Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority has warned consumers not to do business or accept investment advice with Godfrey Brooks Investment Advisory.

The Swiss-based company is not authorised as an investment business firm in the Republic but has been offering investment services to consumers here, the financial regulator said. It is a criminal offence for an investment firm to operate in the Republic unless it has authorisation from the financial regulator.

Beamish director joins UK board

Alf Smiddy, managing director of Beamish & Crawford, has been appointed to the board of Scottish & Newcastle's UK division.

The unit, which looks after the UK and Irish markets for the international brewer and cider producer, had revenues of £1.7 billion last year. It has about 27 per cent of the UK and Ireland market and employs 6,000 people in the two regions.

Clients losing on deposit accounts

Consumers are losing out on thousands of euro every year by leaving their cash in low-yielding deposit accounts and failing to get the best financial advice, according to the Professional Insurance Brokers Association (Piba).