Details of the 239 Nominations for the 2023 annual Finance Dublin Deals of the Year Awards 2023. The shortlisted deals provide the most comprehensive analysis of the most significant deals across the finance ecosystem in Ireland in 2022.
Also: the state of play in global banking, following the jitters spurred by the collapse of SVB Bank, including fragility risks in certain areas, including the implementation (by the Fed) of money markets regulation; the important EU Sandbox initiative, welcomed by an Irish Central Bank Spokesman in a statement in Finance Dublin.
Highlights:
- Stripe's 1,000 job expansion in Ireland truly signals a new wave for Irish fintech; Not least because the valuation of the Irish-American company at $95bn makes it the world's second largest 'unicorn', its strategic positioning at the interface between payments and new money concepts is significant.
- The
Finance Dublin Funds Monitor, Issue No 2 - The perspectives of seven leading figures in the Irish funds industry on the outlook at the outset of Q2 2021.
- Aircraft Leasing - the Irish industry set for the next stage in global commercial aviation.
- Op-Ed - Individual accountability in financial services.
- IQ-EQ's Irish funds push & Alter Domus' Cork expansion driven by Ireland's increasing importance as a listing domicile for private equity; Albany Beck's banking consultancy plans.
- Lord Jonathan Hill's plans for the UK's revamping of its listing rules.
- How COVID-19 is impacting the UK and European real estate investment sector
- The Irish Tax Monitor - The panel examines Irish aircraft leasing, other IFS sectors, and Corporation Tax. The implications for global corporation tax; how might the various corporation tax reform proposals potentially affect aircraft leasing in particular? The UK Budget: implications of the increase in the UK corporation tax rate to 23%.
- The Dillon Eustace Financial Regulation Update, No. 17.
- Digital Operational Resilience proposals in America, Europe and beyond.
- And much more from Ireland's financial services publication
In the May issue of the Finance Dublin Irish Tax Monitor the Panel comments on the Government's proposed approach to implementing BEPS Pillar Two, including how it could bring heretofore tax exempt activities into the tax net. Other topics on the agenda include BEPS and Aircraft Leasing; Tax Classification of Foreign Entities; VAT in the area of digitalisation, the Land Value Sharing legislative proposals; Ireland's corporate tax take and from a recent ruling by the TAC, the importance of keeping proper books.
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Maples' Head of Tax Andrew Quinn writes in the May edition of the Irish Tax Monitor, ahead of the release of details of the new Pillar II 'Top up Tax' ('QDTT'), that Ireland could levy the top-up tax on "under-taxed" entities within the scope of the Directive and not exempted or under a safe harbour in the Directive. "That could mean that Ireland could levy tax in certain limited cases on entities that to date have generally been treated as tax exempt in Ireland under Irish tax legislation, such as an Irish regulated fund", he says.
Writing on the proposed Land Value Sharing Bill, in the May edition of the Irish Tax Monitor, Dominic O'Shaughnessy, Tax Director, Corporate & International Tax, Deloitte says the proposed changes add to the air of uncertainty in the market with the inclusion of existing zoned land likely to be the most contentious change. "While, in principle, there are arguments for a form of LVS contribution, applying LVS to land that is already zoned would not seem equitable, as such lands would have been purchased at a price that did not take into account the impact of the LVS contribution", he says. Read more
here.
Angela Fleming, BDO's head of FS Tax, reviews the new Guidance from Irish Revenue on the classification of foreign entities for Irish tax purposes, and notes their decision not to adopt the approach of HMRC in the UK of providing a list of examples of foreign entities and their classifications. The proposed Irish approach will be to look at each foreign entity on its own merits based on established principles set out in case law, and, she notes, potential use of the Irish RTS (Revenue Technical Service) for clarifications.
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The new Minister of State at the Department of Finance Jennifer Carroll MacNeill hitting the ground running with a packed international financial services and 'Ireland for Law' marketing programme. In an interview with the editor, Ken O'Brien, in the Finance Dublin February issue, the minister outlined her ambitions for promoting Ireland as an international financial centre and as a common law legal jurisdiction.
In the 2023 Yearbook edition of the Finance Dublin Funds Monitor the panel reflect on developments in asset management and investment funds in 2022 and what is in store for 2023.
In the April issue of the Finance Dublin Irish Tax Monitor the Roundtable Panel comment on latest developments in the evolution of BEPS rules, digesting new guidance. A key area of interest from an Irish corporate tax perspective is the Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax while clarification of rules for insurance companies are welcomed.
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In the February issue, Panel members Andrew Quinn of Maples & Calder and Tatiana Kelly of Deloitte comment on a significant ruling by the European Court of Justice on a State Aid case involving Luxembourg that looks likely to weaken the Commission's appeal in Ireland's Apple case.
The past year's trends are surveyed in our cover story. It has been a turbulent year, but also in many ways a landmark year. Those landmarks raise hopes about several features of the near term future for Ireland, business, the economy, and the financial services sector, both domestic and international.
The economic backdrop is benign. It indicates that from a growth and pure financial point of view Ireland has totally got it right. In it, we point to "a hugely significant factor, accounting for, in 2022 alone, a decline in the absolute size of the national debt of 790 basis points. This follows a 660 basis point decline in 2021, and 140 in 2020, the peak year of the pandemic". This indicates that a potentially viable and sustainable future lies ahead for the Republic of Ireland - that relatively is more attractive indeed than any other coutry in the continent of Europe as the new year dawns.
Leading edge thinking is evident through the rest of the publication, in our features, and 'This Month' articles, as well as in the December 2022 Irish Tax Monitor, where we reference the benefits of a move towards a territorial tax system, and examine latest developments on the BEPS front, including its implications for the insurance industry.
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With the EU overcoming the final hurdles in coming to agreement on how it will implement the OECD's BEPS Pillar 2 rules, the path is now clear for the rules to be transposed across the EU by the end of 2023.
The seventh edition of
Finance Dublin's quarterly
Finance Dublin Funds Monitor is published: Focusing on the increasing opportunities for retail distribution in investment funds, and how technology is changing the playing field.
The panel also examines the key developments in the global funds and asset management industry including the growth of retail investor access to private investment; developments driving changes in distribution; data analytics; trends in product design, ESG, regulation and governance.
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The Government's consideration of a move towards a territorial tax system is an opportunity to both simplify Ireland's tax regime and make Ireland more attractive for international investors, opine panellists in this month's roundtable. While a change to stamp duty on Irish shares is also identified as having the potential to make investment, both inward and outward, more attractive, at a time when the calculus behind such decisions is uncertain as a result of changes to the international tax framework.
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As Dublin hosts over 2,000 delegates at the annual air finance conferences this week, we circulated a list of the key aviation financing issues as we enter into 2017, suggested in a list of 10 questions such as how many new entrant lessors will be launched during 2017?
In the latest issue of Funds Monitor the panel examines areas of opportunity, such as tokenisation, and need, including in Transfer Agency with regards to the industry's digitalisation agenda with latest research showing managers' plans to deploy new technologies to tackle their key challenges, which include rising costs. Other topics include the future for private credit funds, the Irish Government's funds sector review, EU consolidated tape, ETFs and ESG standards.
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Irish Stock Exchange highlights, 2016:
ISE bond listings grow by 7% to reach over 29,000 debt securities; 1,041 new fund listings, retaining No 1 position for funds listing globally; New equity listings from Venn Life Sciences, Draper Esprit and Dalata Hotel Group; 11 listed companies raise €513m from international investors; Equity trading reaches record 6.6m transactions (+17.4%); #IPOready companies graduate from ISE leadership programme
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The latest issue of Finance Dublin which, given the unprecedented importance of discussions around Ireland's headline corporation tax rate, continues to provide a special focus on taxation this month.
The 2021 Finance Dublin Accountancy Fee Income survey reflects on the impact of Covid-19 on the industry, with the exclusive insights of the managing partners of the Top 7 firms included in this month's issue.
In an exclusive interview in Finance Dublin, EY's new Financial Services head, Colin Ryan provides an overview of the global and Irish FS landscape, which he characterises as reaching a 'tipping point'.
Also, dealmaking activity features, with Irish private equity and M&A surging, and, large M&A transactions, as Citi's Louise O'Mara reports.
BNP country head Derek Kehoe calls for links to be fostered between London and Dublin as financial centres, and State Street's Tadhg Young comments on the significance of its new cybersecurity hub investment in Kilkenny.
- And much more from Ireland's publication on international financial services.
The importance of getting the Corporation Tax issue right
The latest issue of Finance Dublin has a special emphasis on taxation, given the unprecedented importance of discussions around Ireland's headline corporation tax rate.
The analysis, in the Cover story, and in other articles, on page 6, and in the Irish Tax Monitor, page 20, is special. It is warranted, we believe, because of the fundamental importance of tax to the country's economic future, its financial services industry, and indeed other industries that are nurtured by FDI.
The Irish Tax Monitor provides an initial assessment by some of the leading tax advisory experts in Ireland of the OECD July proposals in its Monthly Roundtable analysis. The conclusion is that the 12.5% should and can continue as the headline rate.
Our Editorial on page 3 derives from an assessment of the importance of the 12.5% headline rate to the vitality of the Irish economy. Everyone will agree of course that Ireland's attractiveness as an FDI location depends on a range of factors that complement the tax regime, such as the quality and talents of the workforce. These factors, however, are in the medium and long term also impacted by the tax regime. The point is that it is a complex picture, and that mistakes in the context of the international pressure through the OECD BEPS process need not, and should not be contemplated.
- And much more from Ireland's publication on international financial services
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In a comprehensive outline of its approach to the processing of the significant volume of post Brexit enquiries for passporting now in the pipeline, the Central Bank details the response applicants can expect.Also: Aftermath of Finance Bill 2016. Brexit and tax, and the new year Budget process. MMFR deal in Brussels; Bank of Cyprus uses Irish ISE platform to access LSE. Finance Dublin Yearbook 2017 Anniversary Edition: the details.
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March issue: Deals of the Year 2021. Nominations issue
Latest issue:
- Irish aircraft leasing executive's plight.
The continued detention of Richard O'Halloran, an Irish leasing company executive by a Chinese Court has been raised by Irish politicians. The detained executive's lawyer, David Maughan, speaks to Finance Dublin.
- Details of all the Deals of the year Nominations - 195 Deals are nominated for the 2021 Finance Dublin Deals of the Year Awards. This was an increase on the previous year, with Covid-19 effects shaken off by the final quarter of the year as Ireland's dealmakers adjusted to the realities of corporate finance under pandemic conditions.
- Finance for Ireland Action Plan 2021
Government strategy incorporates new objectives, including actions on tax treaty issues, Covid-19 recovery and Brexit.
- Corporation Tax
The Corporation Tax 'Roadmap Update'; published last month is welcomed as a coherent strategic plan for the future defence of a vital pillar of the Irish economy.
- Ireland's Tax Treaties
Although, at 74 treaties with other countries, Ireland has an extensive tax treaty network it could sign up more. The new Finance for Ireland Government Action Plan has set its expansion as a new objective in 2021.
- The Finance Dublin Glossary - Irish Schemes of Arrangement ; 'Cashbox' structures in corporate finance; Ireland's 12.5% corporation tax rate - the 'lodestar' rate for international tax competitiveness
Despite uncertainty around timelines for the EU's ATAD 3 (the Unshell Directive) Deloitte's Anna Holohan outlines the actions that can be taken now in preparation for the new rules so that entities can demonstrate substance or ease compliance with the proposed reporting standards that could be required.
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Tinseltown and the party season may be in full swing, but it's a good time to take a moment of reflection and look at ways we can improve the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. Worth considering might be basis.point, the charity initiative of the Irish funds Industry, which is a unique example of industry colleagues coming together and putting their time, energy and resources together to combat one single issue, educational disadvantage.
Six years ago, the charity was established by a small group of visionaries within the Irish funds sector, who saw the potential of coordinating their own personal giving in a structured fashion in order to amplify their impact. They identified education as a transformative component in offering a child a better future and the concept of #joinedupgiving was born.
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In recent weeks insurance companies have been informed by the Central Bank about the effect of its Prudential Impact Models review on their PRISM ratings. The new models, which were published in February, represent the most fundamental change to the system since it was introduced in 2011. Since then there have been many changes to strengthen financial regulation, including Solvency II, MiFID II and the Payment Services Directive and much new data is available to the Central Bank.
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17th April-20th April: Three charter flights from China to Ireland supported by Irish leasing firms, and ALI, the aircraft leasing unit of IBEC, representing 33 lessors in Ireland have delivered much needed PPE equipment for the Irish healthcare system. Among the firms stepping up were Avolon, Aercap, GECAS, and SMBC. Assisting in the airlift have also been Aer Lingus, the Irish embassy in China and IDA Ireland.
July issue: The 2020
Finance Dublin Top 20 Accountancy Firms Survey shows 9 p.c. growth in fees in the latest financial year
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5th December 2019: Ireland's Minister for State at the Department of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael D'Arcy, performed the official opening of Mediolanum Banking Group's European Asset Management Headquarters in Dublin today. The Irish operations of Banca Mediolanum comprise Mediolanum International Funds Limited ("MIFL") and Mediolanum International Life Dac. "We look forward to growing still further as we complement our substantial multi-manager and sub-advisory business with an increasing focus on expanding our team and competencies in direct securities selection," said MFIL's MD, Furio Petrobiasi.
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With uncertainty around the makeup and timeline of the EU's Unshell Directive Maple's Lynn Cramer assesses the current proposals and demands on in-scope entities. With the proposed implementation date of 1 January 2024 now likely slipping to 2026, she says, 'Given the general desire of taxpayers for stability (and, yes, certainty), the two year back and forth in relation to these proposals is highly unsatisfactory. That is particularly true given that aspects of the proposals involve a review of activities and fact patterns during a lookback period (of one year, or two - yet more uncertainty).'
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London, 28th May 2020: Amundi, the leading European asset manager, announced that the Central Bank of Ireland has confirmed Amundi as a 'Super' Management Company in Ireland. It complements a range of existing authorisations held by the firm including, individual portfolio management and investment advice. With the full scope of AIFMD and UCITS permissions in Ireland, Amundi can now draw on its four major hubs for fund hosting services: France, Luxembourg, Austria and Ireland.
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The "Agile" software project management system can also be applied to complex financial services projects. EY's Jeff Cowhig and Kieran Hanley assess the possibilities, with examples of its successful application in FS.
Despite the huge challenges they face - EU audit rotation, for example, and the opportunities of technology - blockchain, (the "distributed ledger") for example, as well as the possibility of Irish GAAPs in the wake of Brexit, the Managing Partners of Ireland's Top 20 Accountancy firms have seen more rapid growth than their peers in the UK, and the rest of the world, as some of them point out in this insight into the day-to-day business preoccupations of a group, who, according to the latest numbers, are at the top of a growth story that has seen the second best business year in real terms since the Finance Dublin survey began.
John Larkin, head of William Fry's Insurance & Reinsurance Department, and recently appointed chairman of the firm is busy these days handling inquiries from UK companies looking at relocation to Ireland.
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Of all the sectors exposed to C-19 commercial passenger aviation is one of the most badly hit. Governments across the world have so far provided airlines with $123 billion in financial support, most of it repayable. Coming at a time when the industry is burning cash at a rate of around $20 billion a month, these aids have averted a number of certain collapses.
For more on this click here
January 2021 issue: Interview - the Minister of State responsible for Financial Services, Sean Fleming TD
- Interview: the Minister of State responsible for Financial Services, Sean Fleming TD on his priorities, and how he sees the evolution of the Government's Ireland for Finance strategy. Update; 11th February 2021: The Minister publishes the Ireland for Finance Action Plan 2021
- Update: The opportunities for Ireland as a common law centre after Brexit. Chief Justice Mr Frank Clarke speaks in New York State Bar Association webinar about the benefits of Irish common law for commercial law resolutions at an Ireland for Law event introduced by its chair, former Taoiseach John Bruton.
- The passing of the Investment Limited Partnership Act, effective February 1st 2021: - the possibilities to facilitate business development in capital markets and asset management;
- The Green and ESG agendas in Insurance: overview by James Maher of EY; - A big year beckons on the corporation tax front, with the BEPS process set to unfold further; - Insurance Action Plan of the Government published in December;
- The Finance Dublin Glossary - Andrew Bailey's take on 'Equivalence'; 'Nexus' and BEPS; Central Banks and Supervisors for 'Greening the Financial System'.
The latest issue of Finance Dublin has a special focus on Ireland's forthcoming Budget, which has the potential of being one of the most important for many years. The cover feature surveys major Budget submissions published during the summer, which point to a consensus that there are opportunities to capitalise on the world-leading success of the Irish economy, and to seize new opportunities for fundamental reforms of the tax system to make Ireland more competitive, both for indigenous businesses and FDI.
One of the FDI jewels in the crown of Ireland's economy is the investment funds industry, the central focus of the latest issue of the Finance Dublin Funds Monitor where contributors focus on the challenges and opportunities arising from technology and AI in funds management, and write on as to how to deepen and develop the quality of servicing of asset management.
Alongside this, however, there are concerns being expressed by the industry about the unnecessary over-reach potentially arising from EU proposals to extend macroprudential regulatory requirements for the investment funds industry. These have been aired by EFAMA and commented upon by Irish Funds' CEO Pat Lardner, as detailed in this month's issue here. These concerns in the funds industry are paralleled by separate concerns arising in other sectors of the industry around potential regulatory over-reach in the areas of personal accountability by senior executives in financial services.
The Irish Tax Monitor this month provides its monthly wide overview of the Irish tax landscape, supplementing in individual insights by Roundtable members critical themes regarding tax administration brought out in the 2024 Budget Submissions, such as the case for a Territorial Tax System.
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The Finance Dublin Yearbook 2017 will be a special edition marking the 30th Anniversary of Ireland's IFS industry
Click here for details
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The September issue of Finance Dublin provides insights on a white hot talent market in financial services, with all the old familiar concerns about overheating and competitiveness concerns that brings. This is notwithstanding the overall economic and markets backdrop, and speaks to the underlying strength of financial services in the jurisdiction as we begin to look to the prospects of a new year, in 2023.
The second part of the annual Finance Dublin accountancy industry survey focuses on the labour market and hiring plans of top firms as managing partners continue their insights on the market. The broader financial services market has ended summer 2022 in buoyant conditions. It will be boosted in a positive way by plans and ideas for next generation skill and product development, such as those by IDA Ireland and leading recruitment specialists in the issue.
In the latest edition of the Finance Dublin Funds Monitor the Roundtable addresses key contemporary questions, including the rise of active management strategies in fund management agendas as the old certainties that supported passive investing recede. The expert analysis of the practitioners on AIFMD II and the changes in the Manco sector in Ireland also feature, as does the search for ESG 'truth'.
The budget season is upon us, and in the Irish Tax Monitor many learned suggestions are made, including on the important questions around the maintenance of the vital Section 110 regime.
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As the Irish Stock Exchange in common with London sees a continued decline in primary equity listings business in favour of New York it is something that Euronext Dublin will not accept without a fight, its CEO Daryl Byrne and its Head of Listing for Ireland & UK, Niall Jones, told Finance Dublin in an exclusive interview with Contributing Editor John Stanley. From providing the funds to build canals, railways and even bicycles in the 19th century to supporting the growth of Irish-based high tech, pharma and international financial services in the 21st, the exchange has provided a trusted platform for both entrepreneurs and investors. Today, even as it continues to grow in stature in the listing of funds, debt securities and ETFs, it is grappling with a Europe-wide decline in the number of new companies listing on the market, while at the same time some of its star performers, lured by the attractions of Wall Street, are relinquishing their Irish listings.
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Highlights:
Finance Dublin's annual Deals of the Year Awards 2021 issue, profiling the 40 winning awards, across 6 broad categories.
The Report shows that the world of finance is changing, and perhaps at an accelerated pace during the pandemic, as the industry met the challenge of a health and human crisis, the first global catastrophe since the great financial crisis of 2007-2008.
It's been a time when, as the deals stories also show, the industry and the world, continues to adjust to the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 itself.
The awards reflect the changing times, such as the rise of green finance, the role of Irish companies in leading edge life sciences work, which the pandemic has reminded us of, the challenges of finance in the Irish economy, notably in housing, and the changing role of finance, as private equity and alternative finance combine in new ways to blend with traditional financing models in banking.
The deals stories reflect the rich diversity of financing industry in Ireland, a new industry that barely existed 35 years ago, with, an international dimension that certainly could not even have been imagined 35 years ago.
Also:
- The Irish Tax Monitor - The panel provides their initial assessments of President' Biden's 'Made in America' Tax Plan which proposes to reform the Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax ("BEAT"), Global Intangible low-tax income ("GILTI") and foreign-derived intangible income ("FDII") regimes. they assess the potential implications for Ireland.
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In this issue the Roundtable panel analyse the noteworthy features of the Finance Bill, including VAT changes that could impact the
funds and asset management industries; the extension of the SARP regime; pensions changes and the Vacant Homes Tax. Ireland's
ability to remain competitive in light of BEPS is also examined, as are the implications for M&A activity and financing under the
new rules. A recent High Court case in the area of CGT and the OECD's guidelines to improve outcomes in the area of Transfer
Pricing also feature, as does an analysis of the longer term significance of aspects of Budget 2023.
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The seventh edition of
Finance Dublin's quarterly
Finance Dublin Funds Monitor is published - featuring the insights of its Roundtable of thought leaders in the asset management and investment funds industry.
The Roundtable addresses key contemporary questions, including the rise of active management strategies in fund management agendas as the old certainties that supported passive investing (i.e. QE) recede. The expert analysis of the practitioners on AIFMD II and the changes in the Manco sector in Ireland are analysed, as is the search for ESG 'truth', a key contemporary concern of asset managers.
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The May issue of Finance Dublin features the results of the Finance Dublin Deals of the Year Awards for 2022, recognising the most significant and noteworthy transactions in 2021 from the point of view of deal excellence in capital markets and corporate and institutional finance in Ireland.
The 42 deals recognised in the 2022 Awards are all profiled in the issue. They are listed out of a total of over 200 individual deals closed during the calendar year 2021 which were nominated in six broad categories: M&A, Debt, and Equity Capital Markets, Loans & Financing, and, Financial Services, including Aviation Finance.
They range in size across the economy, with the winning deal in the Mergers & Acquisitions Category, Aercap's merger with GECAS, to create the largest aircraft leasing company in the world, Aercap, which has already been able to show its resilience in the face of the global pandemic's impact on the aviation industry, and, most recently, the seizure of its assets in Russia, following the invasion of Ukraine.
The 2019 edition of the Finance Dublin Yearbook, is the 26th annually updated record of the history of the companies and institutions that make up the Republic of Ireland's international financial services history. In this sense, it is a 'living history' of the evolution of a significant global financial centre, Europe's fifth largest, in terms of trade. The new 2019 edition in its updates and new company additions, reflects 'a rate of expansion that is unprecedented in the 30 year plus history of the international financial services industry'.
The Finance Dublin Annual Accountancy Survey 2023 shows a year of strong fee income growth amongst Ireland's leading firms and big changes at the top of the table. The figures for this year's survey, listing figures for latest year ends ending in 2022 and 2023, show aggregate Republic of Ireland fee income growth of 17% for 2022-3 for the top 20 firms in total with all of the Big Four firms switching places in terms of their size and growth rankings at the top.
Vigilance as to maintaining a competitive environment for the Irish economy must remain to the fore in areas that include tax policy, and financial services regulation, a topic that receives a timely reminder in an article by Fernando Vicario, chairman of the Federation of International Banks in Ireland, and country head for Ireland of Bank of America, and the subject of the cover feature in the forthcoming issue of Finance Dublin.
Working within global frameworks, and playing on global playing fields is a good place to build excellence, and the perspectives of Irish Stock Exchange executives Daryl Byrne and Nigel Jones in a wide ranging interview in this issue provide a valuable perspective on the evolution of the Exchange as a platform of publicly quoted securities, not just for large international plcs, but for publicly traded assets of all kinds.
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In an era of zero inflation, the Top 20 accountancy firms pushed up their fee income by 15.2% in their latest year, adding €233.6m in fee income in the latest twelve month period. Taking inflation into account, this was the second strongest year for accountancy firms in the 30 year history of the Finance Dublin survey, published in the December issue.
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WHILE the financial impact of Covid-19 on the insurance sector has already been significant. Lloyds of London estimates a global underwriting loss for this year of over $100 billion, compounded by a similar sized fall in the value of investment portfolios. Business Interruption is proving to be a contentious issue, with legal disputes the focus of much attention. But despite all this, writes Insurance Correspondent John Lyons, stock markets have not been unduly spooked about the outlook for the insurance sector.