Mortgage rules under review; airlines react to ‘hijack’; and Chinese investors

The Central Bank will begin a major review of its mortgage lending rules next month, the first since the measures were introduced in 2015, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy. It comes as pressure mounts on regulators to ease restrictions on borrowing.

Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary accused Belarus of hijacking on Monday, saying the airline was co-operating with international security agencies after the eastern European country forcibly diverted one of its flights. Barry O'Halloran gauges reaction to the forcing down of the Ryanair flight on Sunday as airlines start to avoid Belarus airspace.

More than 260 wealthy non-EU citizens pledged to invest €185.6 million in the Republic under the Government's cash for visas scheme last year, official figures show. Of the successful applicants for the Immigrant Investor Programme, 95 per cent were Chinese. Barry O'Halloran has the details.

And, as employers begin to weigh up a return to office work for hundreds of thousands of staff, PwC has informed its employees that they will be expected to come into the office for two or three days a week in what it accepts will be a very changed workplace. Ciarán Hancock reports.

'Cash for visas': €185m invested in exchange for right to live in Ireland in 2020

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Central Bank to conduct major review of mortgage rules

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Irish unit of Ronaldo’s ‘super-agency’ showed €27.6m profit in 2019

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PwC sets down 3-day office guidelines for staff

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Cineworld, the world's second-largest cinema chain, said on Monday that its UK cinemas pulled in more people than expected after a months-long Covid-19 lockdown, helped by Sony Pictures' animated adventure comedy Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway.

The owner of Irish ham maker Carroll Cuisine has tapped the Tullamore company's reserves for almost €15 million to help facilitate the estimated €1.4 billion takeover of its parent company by a Canadian food group. Mark Paul reports.

The powerful G7 states are set to back landmark reform of corporate taxation in a move that would see a minimum tax rate of around 15 per cent and the taxation of multinationals' sales in the countries where they occur, writes Cliff Taylor. The G7 accord would have no formal standing but would be a powerful indicator to others in the current OECD tax reform process.

Pilots are warning that thousands of aviation jobs will be lost this year if the Government delays for six weeks before adopting the EU's digital Covid passport. Barry O'Halloran writes that they fear a second lost key summer season.

In Personal Finance, Fiona Reddan examines the pros and cons of locking yourself into a 20-year fixed rate on your mortgage, while Q&A examines one reader's ambitious strategy to upgrade to a bigger home and another who worries that they will face a tax bill selling their home even though it is in negative equity because they were forced to rent it out.

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