A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Regulator imposes fines on insurance firms over funds issues
The regulator has said Dublin-based Inveralmond Insurance and Creation Insurance, both based on Adelaide Road, failed to maintain a minimum guarantee fund on certain dates.
Inveralmond Insurance was required to hold enough assets to meet a fund of €3.2 million, but failed to do so on 19 dates in 2008 and 2009. Its greatest shortfall amounted to almost €200,000, with an average shortfall of more than €84,000. The regulator fined the company €26,600, which has been closed to new business since 2008. Creation Insurance was also fined €26,600 after the regulator found it failed to meet its minimum guarantee fund of €2.2 million on dates in 2009. The regulator said in both cases it did not believe the actions were deliberate.
Bank of England keeps rates at 0.5%
The Bank of England kept interest rates at 0.5 per cent for the 18th month in a row and announced no new quantitative easing purchases, in a widely expected decision.
None of the 60 economists polled by Reuters last week had forecast a change in policy and most do not see interest rates rising until the second quarter of next year at the earliest.
As usual, the central bank issued no statement alongside the policy announcement made following the Monetary Policy Committee's meeting.
When minutes to this months meeting are published on September 22nd, many economists expect it to show a repeat of August's discussion, in which Andrew Sentance was the sole policymaker to vote for a rise in rates, as he has been since June.
The bank cut rates to a record low of 0.5 per cent in March 2009 and started buying assets. – (Reuters)
KNOC sticks with €1.67bn Dana bid
Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) said it was sticking by its £1.67 billion (€2 billion) offer for Dana Petroleum after Dana tried to squeeze out a higher bid with an independent valuation.
The state-run Korean company ruled out improving its offer if Dana's board were to recommend its bid, crushing investor hopes that it would be persuaded to raise its bid slightly in order to secure the board's support. – (Reuters)
China e-learning deal for Intuition
Intuition Publishing, the e-learning firm owned and chaired by financier Dermot Desmond, has made its first foray into the Chinese market with a deal with Shanghai University to open up its library of financial market products to Chinese MBA students.
"This is not about cash, we do bigger deals, but it is about us breaking into the China market for the first time. Shanghai is growing into a major regional financial centre and there is no reason we wouldn't be involved," said Paraic McGrath, director of Intuition's Asia-Pacific business.
Intuition Publishing's Asian offices are in Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Tokyo and Shanghai, and the group is headquartered in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).
The company has also announced a tie-up with UCC to create online tutorials to help Irish firms conduct business in China.
HMV feels effect of World Cup
Sales at music and DVD retailer HMV fell as the attention of customers turned to the World Cup. In Ireland and the UK, sales at stores open at least a year dropped 14.9 per cent in the 19 weeks ended September 4th, the company said. Sales at the Waterstone's chain, owned by HMV, fell 2.6 per cent. Total sales fell 5.9 per cent. "Trading during the first quarter of the new financial year continues to be difficult, particularly in HMV UK and Ireland, where the World Cup disrupted the pipeline for new entertainment product, and the games market continued to be weak," chief executive Simon Fox said.
