25 March 2020, 0011.30 hrs: "Ireland is well placed to increase its borrowing activity in the coming years arising from the economic disruption relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) said today. "Five years ago the average interest rate on our national debt was close to 4%; it is currently on course to fall below 2%. Five years ago our annual interest bill was over €7.5 billion and is now close to €4 billion" said Conor O'Kelly, chief executive of the NTMA. (Graphic: A flashback to 2013, when Finance Dublin Deals of the Year recognised the historic Sovereign Bonds Deals of the Year that year for €25 billon, helping to pave the way towards the funding progress referenced in today's statement).

24th March 2020 (Updated 25th March) : The Government announced a fiscal package estimated by the minister for Finance as costing potentially €300 million a week for the duration of the Covid-19 pandemic. Details can be accessed: here . The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, estimated that the weekly potential cost to the Exchequer of the measures at €300 million a week, which would amount to €3bn in the next 10 weeks. Details of financing for businesses have been published by the banks: See: AIB here; Bank of Ireland here, Ulster Bank here; KBC here; and Permanent TSB here. The Banking and Payments Federation (BFPI) issued this statement on the Irish monetary and fiscal policy action scheme worked out with the Government and Central Bank.

The USA's Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin (March 23rd) announced, as part of a $4 trillion package, a scheme to support businesses with up to 500 employees in which the US Small Business Administration (SBA) administers loans to affected firms taking up the Government's fiscal aids to salaries that loans will be forgiven, i.e. repaid by the Government to the banks participating. For a comprehensive description of the full range of monetary tools being used by the US authorities at present see this.

This edition of Finance Dublin provides the details of the Deals Nominated in 230 nominations for the 2020 annual Finance Dublin Deals of the Year Awards. The issue, describing, commenting on, and listing the 2020 Deal candidates is a treasure trove of information on the state of corporate finance and corporate financing in Ireland.

It depicts a thriving and growing corporate financing ecosystem that will soon be put to the severest test possible by the 'Black Swan' that has intervened since the end of last year - the Coronovirus crisis, an 'unprecedented economic shock'.

21st March 2020: The Irish Examiner report that Castletownbere Fishermen's Co-op with 500 livelihoods is in threat of closure because fresh fish markets have collapsed is a case in point of how the Irish Government can use its top rank credit rating to implement All that it takes" fiscal policy. At risk is not just this important part of the economy's infrastructure, with 400 self employed fishermen and 100 PAYE taxpayers in the processing plant. It is a case study in microcosm of enterprises and jobs that are in trouble the length and breadth of the Republic right now.

18th March 2020, 1600 hrs: The Central Bank has cut its systemic capital buffer by 1% (of the risk exposures of banks), freeing up significant flows of funds in the coming days. the measure comes as the minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe met banking chiefs this afternoon to discuss the move. In light of this banks after the meeting have been announcing moves to ease liquidity for personal and SME customers, including increased credit card limits, overdrafts, and stocking loans for shops. The Revenue Commissioners also announced a deferment of stamp duty on credit card transactions to July.

March 13th 2020 (updated: March 18th 2020): The unfolding Covid crisis is set to be the most severe external shock to the global and Irish economy since World War 2, but at least we can take some comfort in the fact that it will in scale be many times less severe than the war. Furthermore WW2 was a fight between humans while this is between humans and a virus. We can hope that at the end of it we will emerge with a new sense of global community in face of the external threat that the whole world faces.

An unprecedented shock calls for unprecedented action at the fiscal and monetary policy levels, no less than at other levels such as public health support.

The focus of fiscal and monetary policy should be on liquidity - supporting it for front line private sector providers of services throughout the supply chain for the duration of the crisis.

In Ireland, at ECB level, and in global markets economic policy decisionmakers should open whatever spigots are available with the aim of assisting the private sector and taxpayers to continue to do their jobs, and above all to keep supply chains intact until the crisis passes. MORE...

Tinseltown and the party season may be in full swing, but it's a good time to take a moment of reflection and look at ways we can improve the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. Worth considering might be basis.point, the charity initiative of the Irish funds Industry, which is a unique example of industry colleagues coming together and putting their time, energy and resources together to combat one single issue, educational disadvantage. Six years ago, the charity was established by a small group of visionaries within the Irish funds sector, who saw the potential of coordinating their own personal giving in a structured fashion in order to amplify their impact. They identified education as a transformative component in offering a child a better future and the concept of #joinedupgiving was born.

This edition of Finance Dublin is the first in a new period for the Irish IFS industry, in which the UK is outside of the EU, a stage which we describe as the 'End of the Beginning' marking the end of what really are just the preliminary stages of Brexit, with the UK leaving the EU from February 1st. "Ireland for Law" - our cover story focusses on the work that is going to to make Ireland a leading EU centre for commercial law, involving Government, Judiciary, the Bar Council and the Law Society.

In Finance Dublin, cover story, February edition: Since Britain announced its intention of leaving the EU, lawyers throughout Europe have developed plans for winning a share of the international commercial business that is likely to depart that jurisdiction. A number have already opened up English speaking courts. But Ireland has been quietly and deliberately developing its own strategy, confident that its status as a common law jurisdiction can be a pillar for the Irish Courts and legal profession to be central in commercial law in EU27.

The establishment of Mancos, the development of new clusters and product lines, the structuring of funds in Irish vehicles, with Irish wrappers recording new record asset levels, such as CCFs at over €100 billion, and new agendas in areas such as ESG, and new legislative and regulatory initiatives, are among the key pillars of development examined in 'Investment Funds 2020' Special Report (right).

Finance Dublin's conference #FCSDublin 2019 in Dublin Castle on October 16th featured amongst its speakers Ken Clarke, MP, Father of the House of Commons, and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chairman of the United States Securities & Exchange Commission, the USA's most senior regulatory official for the stock markets and for other exchanges and markets. Agenda details.

FCSDublin, 2019 in Dublin Castle on October 16th featured amongst its keynote speakers the Chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission of the United States.

The Latest issue: Brexit may be a topic on everyone's lips still, but it will eventually pass in significance, and we will be left with the concrete realities of a new financial markets landscape. In FCSDublin 2019 speakers have been briefed to address the concrete opportunities that exist across the platform rather than dwell on the uncertainties that may exist, such as those surrounding Brexit. It will be in concrete action that continued success will be achieved.

'We find asset reallocation combined with reinsurance to be the most effective means to manage an insurer's return/risk profile following a more holistic enterprise-based framework', says New England Asset Management's Jim Bachman. New England Asset Management (NEAM) was established 1984 based on the recognition of a need for specialised asset management services tailored to the insurance industry. It was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 1998 and, in Europe, has established NEAM Limited in Ireland with a branch office in the UK.