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Business Briefs U.S.-bound passengers may still buy goods

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Harry Keaney

European leaders, meeting in Germany last week, failed to agree on a resolution to postpone the abolition of duty-free shopping after June 30.

The EU decided to abolish duty free sales in 1992 but gave the industry seven years to adjust. Last week’s decision, in Cologne, means that all duty-free sales for travelers between European member states at airports, ferry ports and on flights and ferries must cease on June 30.

However, passengers flying to the U.S. from European airports, including Dublin, Shannon and Belfast, may purchase their duty free as usual.

Duty free sales provide an estimated 4,000 jobs in the Irish economy and generate £105 million for ‘r Ríanta at Irish airports.

IBO networking

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The monthly Irish Business Organization networking dinner for central and southern New Jersey will take place July 7 in the SeaGull, formerly the Shore Point, at Rte. 35 South and Holmdel Road, Holmdel, N.J., just a half mile after Exit 117 of the Garden State Parkway. The guest speaker is Paul Shaffery, executive director of the Bayshore Development Authority. Details, call Bernadette McManus at (212) 571-1150, Dermot Farley at (800) 261-4923 or Jim Hinckley at (732) 747-0066.

House prices

The Republic of Ireland is the second most expensive place in Europe to buy a house, according to data published by international brokerage firm Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. Only in the Netherlands is it now more expensive to buy a house.

According to recent figures from the Irish central bank, lending has risen by more than 31 percent during the past 12 months.

Y2K scams

The run-up to the millennium is proving to be an enterprising time for scam artists. Telephone callers ring up asking for financial details. The callers may ask for credit card numbers so they can mail stickers to "keep cards valid in case of Y2K problems." Callers may also ask for bank account numbers so that money can be put "into a safe account" in case of Year 2000 computer problems. Best advice: if anyone calls seeking financial information over the phone, just hang up.

Massachusetts acquisition

Manufacturers’ Services, MSL, the Athlone, Co. Westmeath-based computer design company, has acquired Massachusetts-based company Electronic System Packaging. The price has not been disclosed. ESP is a leading provider of printed circuit board design services.

MSL has also signed a letter of intent to acquire Ronlin Design, another Massachusetts company. There is speculation that MSL might be preparing for a U.S. stock market listing.

CBT moving ahead

CBT, the Dublin-based training software manufacturer, plans to sell its educational software over the internet. CBT produces interactive educational software to companies which need to train employees using computer programs. CBT is to set up two internet sites, one to market software and the second to allow students communicate with teachers and other students.

CBT shareholders recently voted to acquire the business-skills training company Knowledge Well for £52 million in stock. CBT Chairman Bill McCabe is a major shareholder in Knowledge Well. In an alliance between Knowledge Well and IBM under which IBM will provide 30,000 of its employees with direct access to Knowledge Well educational software. According to the Irish Times, IBM will feature Knowledge Well on its Solution Developer Program web site.

Skills shortage

An Irish software company, which has deals with Intel and Deutsche Bank, has had to open an office in the Philippines because of the difficulty in finding skilled staff in Ireland. According to the Sunday Business Post newspaper, in Dublin, International Financial Systems has already recruited four programmers at its office in Manila and is expected to have up to 15 people working there on software product development within months.

AIB in Asia

Allied Irish Bank has entered an alliance with Keppel TatLee Bank of Singapore. The agreement gives AIB the right to take as much as a 24.9 percent stake in Keppel TatLee, Singapore’s smallest bank with total assets of about $11.6 billion.

Focus on the banks

Not only in Ireland but also on an international level, there has been much focus recently on how banks do business, particularly their assessment of risk in making loans.

The world’s top banking regulator is the Bank of International Settlements of Basel, in Switzerland. Last week, a panel of the bank introduced proposals to strengthen protections against bad loans and subject the risk-assessment operations of big international banks to greater supervision.

Ireland’s central bank governor, Maurice O’Connell, voiced similar concerns some weeks ago about lending institutions in Ireland, but, of course, on a much smaller scale than what the Bank of International Settlements is concerned about. O’Connell was mainly concerned about mortgage lending in Ireland and the effect on the property market.

The chairman of the panel of the Bank of International Settlements is Irish American William McDonough, a Chicago-native who’s also president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. McDonough’s parents came from Mayo and Roscommon.

According to McDonough, last week’s proposals rest on three pillars: an overhaul of the rules requiring banks to set aside capital against default, closer supervisory scrutiny of the way banks assess risks and greater transparency in banking operations.

McDonough has been mentioned by some as a possible successor to the current Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.

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