A roundup of today's other stories in brief.
Anglo and AIB pitch for SSIA savers
The battle to attract savers' money following the maturity of Special Savings Incentive Accounts (SSIAs) intensified this week as Anglo Irish Bank launched a regular savings account with an interest rate of 4.5 per cent, only to be topped by AIB's new regular saver account, which pays 5 per cent.
The AIB account guarantees to pay the European Central Bank (ECB) rate of interest, currently 2.5 per cent, plus a further 2.5 per cent until January 2008, at which point it will revert to simply the ECB rate.
Its deposit SSIA holders will be sent a pre-filled application form a few weeks before their SSIA matures.
The account, which is open to all savers, accepts monthly savings of between €10 and €300.
Anglo Irish Bank's account is open to customers saving from €100 to €1,000 a month over a term of two years.
AIB also launched a savings incentive plan, an equity-linked investment product, for deposit SSIA customers who want to take on equity-related risks in a quest to obtain higher returns.
Under this plan, AIB will pay a bonus of 25 per cent of one year's contribution to people who invest a lump sum equal to three times their yearly savings and make a minimum contribution of €150 for the first five years.
Equitable's Irish clients 'codded'
Irish customers of troubled UK insurer Equitable Life have told a European Parliament inquiry how they were "codded and conned" into investing in the company in the late 1990s.
Beatrice and Pat Knowd, a retired couple from Dublin, told the committee investigating regulatory failures in the case about their attempts to seek redress for their losses.
The Knowds were among the "late joiner" overseas investors in Equitable Life who were not told of the company's potential £1.5 billion (€2.1 billion) liability to former policyholders when they bought their policies.
Fine Gael MEP Mairéad McGuinness, who is chairing the committee, said their evidence showed how non-UK policyholders, including 6,500 Irish investors, were discriminated against.
HSA launches new health plan
HSA Healthcare has launched a health plan aimed at employers who want to reduce stress in the workplace and prevent absence due to sickness.
The WorkWell plan, which starts from €9 per employee a month, gives employees access to an employee assistance programme and insurance cover against the costs of dental and optical healthcare, GP fees, consultation and diagnostic costs and complementary therapies.
The employee assistance cover includes a 24-hour telephone helpline and a counselling service. The plan is available to companies with over 10 employees.
HSA's head of corporate sales, Cathy McCartan, said that despite their obligations under the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act, the majority of employers were failing to take a "prevention rather than cure" approach to the health of their staff.
Consumers urged to pay for advice
Tips on how to achieve financial freedom, making tax-based investments and changing the way people earn their income are among the topics included in The Tricks of the Rich, a new self-help book by financial adviser Paul Overy.
The book is subtitled What 'They' Do Not Want You to Know About Making Money and Accumulating Wealth.
It implores consumers to pay fees for financial advice rather than accept the free commission-based services of "product sellers".
