Banking secrecy taken too far in the Caymans

Current Account:Most banking customers expect and desire that their financial affairs are kept confidential but the recently published Moriarty tribunal report shows this can be taken too far.

In its section on the secretive Ansbacher system, the chairman, Mr Justice Moriarty, says "it was a feature of the Ansbacher operation, as it evolved over the years from the early 1970s up to the late 1990s, that it became progressively more secretive, until a point was reached where customers of Hamilton Ross [ a part of the operation] found that, notwithstanding their express directions and express authority to provide information to the tribunal, they were met with a response that was wholly obstructive".

Hamilton Ross money was shifted back to the Cayman Islands when the Ansbacher deposits were first discovered by the 1997 McCracken tribunal. Cayman banker John Furze died soon afterwards and some Irish depositors then found that when they went looking for their deposits, they were told they would have to prove they were the owners of one of the secretive, coded accounts, within which the funds were held.

Banking secrecy had been taken so far that even the bank didn't know who owned the money.

Weathering the SSIA hysteria on RTÉ Radio 1

Heartily sick of SSIAs? Heartily sick of people discussing what they are going to do with their money when pay day arrives? Heartily sick of advice about how to draw down the funds?

Well the year is still young. With two thirds of all SSIAs due to pay out in 2007, there will be no escaping the hysteria as banks and other financial institutions attempt to get a slice of the money.

Expect every ad break on RTÉ and other channels to be teeming with SSIA-related adverts. There will be no escape.

But surely listening to the news and weather in the evening will provide a brief respite from the SSIA din? Well, no actually. RTÉ have signed up EBS as their sponsor of the weather bulletins on RTÉ Radio 1 from now until March. Guess what EBS will be promoting? Well, yes, their extensive range of SSIA options. Then again getting involved with the RTÉ weather bulletins is not always a good omen for a company. Last year Smart Telecom wanted to sponsor the bulletins and looked what happened to them.

Cowen gets his sums wrong on tax surplus

The new year has started well for Minister for Finance Brian Cowen. Following hard on his well-received Budget, Exchequer returns published this week show that the Government coffers enjoyed a record surplus last year - a whopping €5.2 billion ahead of expectations.

Department of Finance mandarins were forced to admit that they had totally underestimated the strength of the property boom. But they needn't worry about a ticking off from the Minister.

This time last year, Mr Cowen described 2005 as "a good year for the public finances" but warned that the same positive drivers would not necessarily be in place this year.

At the time, he noted that 80 per cent of the €1.75 billion overshoot in tax revenues in 2005 had been due to extra stamp duty, "bumper" capital gains tax receipts and an unexpectedly high contribution from special tax investigations led by the Revenue Commissioners.

"We do not expect a similar performance from these taxes in 2006," said Mr Cowen

Indeed not. As it happened tax receipts overshot their target by an incredible €3.9 billion last year and the main factors were, you guessed it, stamp duties and capital gains tax.

Stick with the politics Minister.