This week

Compiled by CAROLINE MADDEN

Mayday, Mayday: hacking report out tomorrow

TOMORROW IS May Day – could it also be D-Day for Rupert Murdoch? British legislators are due to publish a long- awaited report on the phone-hacking scandal that centred on News Corp’s now defunct red top News of the World and that has rocked Murdoch’s media empire.

While it is unclear just how far the report will go, there has been widespread speculation that the British parliament’s culture committee will come down hard on News Corp.

If this is the case, it may lead Ofcom, the British broadcast watchdog, to force Murdoch’s media conglomerate to reduce or even to sell its 39 per cent stake in Britain’s dominant pay-TV company, BSkyB.

It is not just Murdoch who may find himself in the firing line tomorrow. There are also rumours that Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, News Corp’s UK newspaper business, could be charged with perverting the cause of justice.

Meanwhile few people will be awaiting the report with more interest than prime minister David Cameron, who came under increasing pressure last week when it emerged that one of his ministers gave News Corp executives highly sensitive details to assist with a controversial bid for BSkyB, which was eventually dropped.

Will FBD feel Liberty's heat?

TODAY INVESTORS will be provided with an update on the progress of FBD in the first three months of the year. Brokers are anticipating a positive interim management statement, but markets will be watching closely for any signs that the advertising campaign of new market entrant Liberty Insurance (which acquired the former Quinn Insurance business) may be putting FBD under pressure.

Liberty Insurance has been busy rolling out a nationwide “hello Ireland” ad campaign – using outdoor media, print, radio and online advertising, followed by a TV campaign in March.

With its strong emphasis on risk management, it is a thinly veiled bid to airbrush away any residual negative associations with Quinn Insurance.

Today’s update may reveal whether Liberty’s significant marketing spend is putting upward pressure on FBD’s own outlay as it attempts to protect its market share gains of 2011.

FBD has enjoyed recent success with innovative approaches to advertising. However, it may have to raise its game again if it is to contend with Liberty’s TV ad star, who is now officially known (on the internet) as “hot Liberty Insurance guy” and whose trustworthy, wholesome American shtick seems to be having the desired effect on portions of the Irish population.

Another potential stumbling block as EU prepares to meet over banks

THE LIST of the worries of European leaders never seems to get any shorter. There’s the collapse of the Dutch government to contend with, not to mention the continuing pain in Spain. Meanwhile on Wednesday, the EU’s finance ministers will gather in Brussels for an extraordinary meeting aimed at breaking a deadlock over new bank capital requirements.

Member states have clashed over the level of flexibility that the new beefed-up rules should contain. Some countries argue that the new regime would unacceptably restrict national powers, while others contend that a level playing field is needed between members to avoid “regulatory arbitrage”, whereby businesses might move to countries with the lightest regulatory burden.

Reports suggest that matters have already been advanced at diplomatic levels, but political agreement is now needed as the draft law requires approval from national governments. It will be interesting to see whether the 27 ambassadors will be able to reach a common position and hammer out a deal on the future architecture of Europe’s banking system, or whether their differences will prove too great to overcome.