(BKIR.L) Bank of Ireland (Governor & Co of) Buy/Sell

DUBLIN, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The European Commission has approved Ireland's revised guarantee scheme for bank liabilities of upto five years in duration, Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said on Friday.
Lenihan said the new scheme would be more targeted than the current scheme introduced in 2008 for lenders including Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland and Irish Life & Permanent, and which runs out in September 2010.

"It will apply to certain liabilities (including deposits) incurred by participating institutions during the period upto 29 September 2010," Lenihan said in a statement. "Dated subordinated debt and asset covered securities will not be guaranteed under the scheme."
Lenihan had already indicated he was mulling a new guarantee which would cover maturities of up to 5 years but only for liabilities incurred in an "issuance window" closing at the end of next September.
(Reporting by Andras Gergely) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/EU

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 19 (Reuters) - New Irish central bank Governor Patrick Honohan opposes the government's policy of imposing a cap on top banking executives' pay, he was quoted by a newspaper on Thursday as saying.
Pressured by voters' anger with banks for contributing to the rapid fall from the 'Celtic Tiger' boom, Dublin imposed a salary cap on bankers as part of the rescue of lenders including Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland.
Honohan, who took over at the helm of the central bank in September, suggested salary limits could make it difficult to provide the incentives needed to recruit the best people.
"Around the world, people are becoming less keen on absolute ceilings on earnings," Honohan told the Irish Independent in an interview conducted on Monday. "If you do that, you can end up losing the people you want to keep."
On Wednesday, Allied Irish Banks ended a row with the government over executive appointments and pay, installing Colm Doherty as managing director with a salary of 500,000 euros ($750,000), the highest allowed under the terms of the bank's state bailout.
"The focus in other countries is already on reducing the payment of short-term bonuses, before the consequences of executive decisions become clear," Honohan said. "We have to try to align the incentives for chief executives of banks with the common good of the community."
Prime Minister Brian Cowen said the cap helped ensure banks met their obligations to taxpayers who rescued them and whose own living standards were falling.
"It's very important that banks recognise that ... the taxpayer has provided necessary funds to ensure that we have a functioning financial system," Cowen said in a video clip posted on the website of his Fianna Fail party late on Wednesday.

"UNEXPLODED BOMBS"
Ireland is about to pay 54 billion euros in bonds to cleanse banks of risky property loans via a "bad bank", the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), with the bonds to be cashed in by the European Central Bank.
The Independent said Honohan disagreed with the suggestion that Irish banks would require emergency ECB support for the indefinite future.
"The Irish banks are not getting special treatment," Honohan said. "They have lots of good collateral that they can use for normal loans from the ECB. I think the 54 billion in NAMA bonds will be of more use in the wider financial markets, because they are government guaranteed."
In his second public statement since taking over as governor, Honohan again departed from the more restrained style of predecessor John Hurley, whom he has also replaced on the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.
Honohan, who is overseeing the reform of Ireland's financial regulatory system after scandals surrounding now nationalised Anglo Irish Bank, said he wanted to make sure there were no "unexploded bombs lying around" in the sector.
"I haven't found any yet, but I want to make sure."
Honohan had used his first public appearance as governor in October to warn in a speech that Ireland needed to cut back some of the wages boosted in the Celtic Tiger years in order to take part in a global upturn.
His comments on wages have remained relevant with unions due to hold a one-day strike across the public sector on Tuesday against government plans to cut their pay to help stabilise the ballooning budget deficit.
(Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Kim Coghill and Victoria Main) ($1=.6680 Euro) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 19 (Reuters) - New Irish central bank Governor Patrick Honohan opposes the government's policy of imposing a cap on top banking executives' pay, he was quoted by a newspaper on Thursday as saying.
Pressured by voters' anger with banks for contributing to the rapid fall from the 'Celtic Tiger' boom, Dublin imposed a salary cap on bankers as part of the rescue of top lenders including Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland .
Honohan, who took over at the helm of the central bank in September, suggested salary limits could make it difficult to provide the incentives needed to recruit the best people.
"Around the world, people are becoming less keen on absolute ceilings on earnings," Honohan told the Irish Independent in an interview conducted on Monday. "If you do that, you can end up losing the people you want to keep."
On Wednesday, Allied Irish Banks ended a row with the government over executive appointments and pay, installing Colm Doherty as managing director with a salary of 500,000 euros ($750,000), the highest allowed under the terms of the bank's state bailout.
"The focus in other countries is already on reducing the payment of short-term bonuses, before the consequences of executive decisions become clear," Honohan said. "We have to try to align the incentives for chief executives of banks with the common good of the community."
Ireland is about to pay 54 billion euros in bonds to cleanse banks of risky property loans via a "bad bank", the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), with the bonds to be cashed in by the European Central Bank.
The Independent said Honohan disagreed with the suggestion that Irish banks would require emergency ECB support for the indefinite future.
"The Irish banks are not getting special treatment," Honohan said. "They have lots of good collateral that they can use for normal loans from the ECB. I think the 54 billion in NAMA bonds will be of more use in the wider financial markets, because they are government guaranteed."
In his second public statement since taking over as governor, Honohan again departed from the more restrained style of predecessor John Hurley, whom he has also replaced on the Governing Council of the European Central Bank.
Honohan, who is overseeing the reform of Ireland's financial regulatory system after scandals surrounding now nationalised Anglo Irish Bank, said he wanted to make sure there were no "unexploded bombs lying around" in the sector.
"I haven't found any yet, but I want to make sure."
Honohan had used his first public appearance as governor in October to warn in a speech that Ireland needed to cut back some of the wages boosted in the Celtic Tiger years in order to take part in a global upturn.
His comments on wages have remained relevant with unions due to hold a one-day strike across the public sector on Tuesday against government plans to cut their pay to help stabilise the ballooning budget deficit.
(Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Kim Coghill and Victoria Main) ($1=.6680 Euro) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.

DUBLIN, Nov 19 (Reuters) - New Irish central bank Governor Patrick Honohan opposes the government's policy of imposing a cap on top banking executives' pay, he was quoted by a newspaper on Thursday as saying.
Pressured by voters' anger with banks for contributing to the rapid fall from the 'Celtic Tiger' boom, Dublin imposed a salary cap on bankers as part of the rescue of top lenders including Allied Irish Banks and Bank of Ireland .
Honohan, who took over at the helm of the central bank in September, suggested salary limits could make it difficult to provide the incentives needed to recruit the best people.
"Around the world, people are becoming less keen on absolute ceilings on earnings," Honohan told the Irish Independent in an interview conducted on Monday. "If you do that, you can end up losing the people you want to keep."
On Wednesday, Allied Irish Banks ended a row with the government over executive appointments and pay, installing Colm Doherty as managing director with a salary of 500,000 euros ($750,000), the highest allowed under the terms of the bank's state bailout.
"The focus in other countries is already on reducing the payment of short-term bonuses, before the consequences of executive decisions become clear," Honohan said. "We have to try to align the incentives for chief executives of banks with the common good of the community."
Ireland is about to pay 54 billion euros in bonds to cleanse banks of risky property loans via a "bad bank", the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), with the bonds to be cashed in by the European Central Bank.
The Independent said Honohan disagreed with the suggestion that Irish banks would require emergency ECB support for the indefinite future.
"The Irish banks are not getting special treatment," Honohan said. "They have lots of good collateral that they can use for normal loans from the ECB. I think the 54 billion in NAMA bonds will be of more use in the wider financial markets, because they are government guaranteed."
(Reporting by Andras Gergely; Editing by Kim Coghill and Victoria Main) ($1=.6680 Euro) Keywords: IRELAND BANKS/

(andras.gergely@reuters.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reuters.com@reuters.net)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.