The Financial Regulator has asked the six Irish banks covered by the State's guarantee to submit new business plans showing how they plan to reduce their risks.
The regulator has also placed 'officers' in each of the banks to scrutinise their future operations.
20 officers have been employed to be placed on-site across the banks.
The moves were agreed as part of the €500bn deposit guarantee introduced by the Government to prop up the Irish banking sector amid the global financial cris... read more »
The Minister for Housing has denied that the Government's new home loan and equity schemes for those trying to get on the property ladder will put the State's finances at further risk.
Michael Finneran also denied that the measures were being taken to help builders to offload excess stock.
He said they were purely designed to extend credit to first-time buyers unable to secure finance due to the credit crunch.
Under the Home Choice Loan scheme, the Government will lend up to 92% of th... read more »
The Government has finally released details its controversial bank guarantee scheme, more than two weeks after the plan was first announced.
Minister for the Finance Brian Lenihan said the new regulations would take the Government deep into the banking system.
Under the scheme, taxpayers will guarantee all loans and deposits in the country's banks and building societies.
One of the key provisions contained in the Bill will be measures to prevent abuse of the scheme.
The Government ... read more »
The Financial Regulator has revealed that the six main Irish banks have loans totalling €15bn secured only against property.
Giving evidence to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Economic Regulatory Affairs, CEO of the Financial Regulator Patrick Neary said that banks will undoubtedly suffer some losses on these property exposures.
He also outlined some measures contained in the Government's bailout package.
The committee heard that in total, the six Irish banks have speculative lend... read more »
The EU Commission has approved the Government's €400bn guarantee that covers six Irish-owned banks and five foreign-owned financial institutions.
The announcement came as Taoiseach Brian Cowen returned from Paris where EU leaders had agreed on a big funding programme for banks and businesses.
Under the programme governments can use taxpayers' funds to put new capital into the banks, either by buying bank shares or debt instruments issued by the banks.
It is the biggest move yet by E... read more »
New research suggests that as many as 170,000 people will fall into negative equity by the end of next year if house prices continue to drop.
The research, by Goodbody Stockbrokers, expects that by the end of 2009 house prices will have fallen 30% from their peak in 2007.
Combined with the fact that one in three homebuyers took out 100% mortgages at the peak of the boom, the research concludes that thousands will fall into negative equity.
Half of those who bought between 2005 and 200... read more »
The Taoiseach will travel to Paris later today for an emergency meeting of leaders from the 15 countries that use the Euro.
The meeting is being held at the request of Spain.
According to French reports, the leaders may be asked to back a plan to invest taxpayers' money in banks in order to recapitalise them, and guarantee their debts in the interbank money market.
This is similar to the plan announced by the British government last week and by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Fri... read more »
The European Central Bank, US Federal Reserve and Bank of England have all cut their key interest rates by half a percentage point.
The ECB interest rate now stands at 3.75%, the Bank of England rate is 4.5% while the US Federal Reserve's key rate is down to 1.5%
The US Federal reserve said it cut the rate 'in light of evidence pointing to a weakening of economic activity and a reduction in inflationary pressures.'
In a joint effort to stem losses coming from the financial markets crisi... read more »
New figures from property website Daft.ie show that house prices have fallen again.
It says the average price of a house is now €312,500, and that an average fall of 3.8% in house prices was recorded between July and September.
Prices are down by almost 11% compared to the same period last year.
Clare and Cork are the worst affected counties, prices in Clare have fallen by 7.8% and by 7% in Cork.
Prices in Roscommon, Tipperary and Leitrim dropped by more than 6%.
The websi... read more »
British banks have complained that the Irish legislation enabling a guarantee for Irish banks' deposits would distort competition.
The British Bankers' Association will deliver a letter to the Government later today.
It says the move has put banks in other jurisdictions, especially in Northern Ireland, at a competitive disadvantage.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, approached the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, on the leg... read more »
