Practicenet News

The Irish Stock Exchange has announced a new programme for companies planning to go public over the new few years. The #IPOready initiative, which is supported by Enterprise Ireland and Invest Northern Ireland, provides firms that are on course for an initial public offering (IPO) with a support programme to teach them about investor relations,

European governments have agreed to cap the fees retailers pay to process debit and credit card transactions in a move the EU parliament said should bring down costs for customers. Negotiators agreed late last night to cap charges across the 28 countries in the union following a long battle over charges with payments groups, including

Ireland’s corporate tax regime is expected to face fresh scrutiny today at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, as Taoiseach Enda Kenny meets EU leaders for the first time since the Luxembourg Leaks scandal broke last month. While the EU’s investment plan and the situation in Ukraine had been expected to dominate the summit

THE economy grew by 3.5pc between July and September compared to the same time last year, signalling the pace of growth may be easing, official data shows. And compared to the second quarter, the economy virtually stagnated, with gross domestic product (GDP) rising by just 0.1pc, according to the Central Statistics Office. But analysts described

A US group, which is lobbying against efforts by the European Union to harmonise taxes on company profits, is hosting a seminar in Dublin today. The organisation called Americans for Tax Reform argues that the ability of countries such as Ireland to maintain low levels of corporation tax encourages innovation. The group is part of

The Economic and Social Research Institute has said the top 10% of income earners gained the most from Budget 2015, while the biggest losers were the poorest 10%. However, when the effects of all the Budgets since 2008 are put together, it is the top 10% of earners who have seen the biggest fall in

Ireland’s Internet economy is predicted to grow in value to E20bn by 2020 but Irish firms risk being left behind and becoming globally irrelevant unless they innovate now. That’s according to global technology consultancy, BearingPoint, who said that Irish people are estimated to have spent E6 billion online in 2014, according to a recent study.

Banks are not expected to take up all the long-term European Central Bank loans offered on Thursday, increasing pressure on the ECB to begin buying sovereign bonds to hit a self-imposed stimulus target. The ECB is offering banks the cheap, four-year loans as part of a package of measures to add around 1 trillion euros

Close to €50 billion has been raised on European equity markets this year, easily surpassing the combined total secured in the whole of 2012 and 2013, according to figures compiled by PwC. In October and November, 55 companies raised €8.5 billion on markets, as against €6.6 billion for the third quarter. For the year to

New research from economists based in the Central Bank shows that first-time buyers have lower default rates than other participants in the housing market. The research appears to bolster the case for the Central Bank easing off on plans to impose strict lending restrictions on first-time buyers. The findings from the new economic paper were