Beware money launderers; Saudis bite back; and the perils of corporate rebranding

Ireland is especially attractive to money launderers, according to the man the Banking and Payments Federation have turned to to train bank staff in how to spot dodgy transactions. Mark Paul has the details.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is vowing to meet fire with even greater fire if Donald Trump follows through on threats to punish the country with sanctions over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. And when it comes to oil at least, it probably has the power to hurt the US.

Back home, it's hardly a windfall but shareholders in renewables group Gaelectric stand to get up to €17 million of their money back in its voluntary liquidation, writes Charlie Taylor.

Gaelectric aside, now is a good time to sell your business, says Tom Godfrey, chief executive of IBI Corporate Finance, which is the largest single player in the Irish M&A scene in recent years, Joe Brennan reports.

Siro revenues multiply as network now live in 17 towns

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IBI chief says ‘good time to sell businesses’ as clouds gather

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Multimillion euro deals help boost Irish M&A activity

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Gaelectric shareholders to get more than expected from asset sales

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Up North, the fallout from the fire that gutted Primark's landmark Belfast store is far-reaching, according to a retail industry group, which says shopper footfall in Belfast city centre is down 30 per cent in the past five weeks. Francess McDonnell reports.

And in Cork, Barry Roche writes that healthcare technology groupZenith Technologiesis at the forefront of new approaches to battling leukaemia and other cancers following a tie up that has seen US giant GE take a 30 per cent stake in the business.

A deal between the European Union and and the UK over Brexit now seems to be in the making but the closer we come to the March 29th deadline, the more Chris Johns wonders why anyone would want the disruption and cost of Brexit in the first place.

Finally, Pilita Clark has sympathy for a holiday camp looking at changing its name because of an unfortunate connection with US President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf resort but she sees it as an outlier. In general , she insists, of all the initiatives business undertake to improve themselves, the corporate makeover, or rebranding, is the most baffling.

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