No-deal Brexit devastation, good news on digital tax and the CCPC takes on the RAI

All the potential doom that a no-deal Brexit might bring was laid open yesterday by the Bank of England, which warned of tumbling house prices and, most significantly for Ireland, a collapse in sterling. Cliff Taylor has parsed the bank's research and sees "devastation" for many Irish companies.

On a more positive note for the Irish economy, at least for now, the prospect of an EU tax on digital sales looks to have faded. Pat Leahy reports that the European Commission's plan, which the Government feared could knock a major hole in the tax revenues the State receives from digital giants based here, has stalled.

The State's competition watchdog has opened a formal investigation into the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) over an industry campaign to encourage the charging of non-refundable deposits on "no-show" customers. Mark Paul has the details on the move, which marks an escalation of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission's interest in the RAI.

Permanent TSB is believed to be about to launch a plan to refinance as much as €1.5 billion in problem mortgages in the bond market, according to Joe Brennan. The mechanism would allow the bank to remove the loans from its balance sheet without selling them to a so-called 'vulture fund'.

Trade war fears ease on news that Trump will meet Xi

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Competition concerns exacerbate no-show woes for restaurants trade group

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Digital sales tax blocked by Ireland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany alliance

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Digicel earnings rise as bondholder talks enter crunch phase

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In media news, Mark Paul has news of a possible new interim editor at the Sunday Business Post, while Barry O'Halloran reports of the emergence of a newly identified shareholder at Independent News & Media.

Peter Hamilton reports that the Layden property group, which bought a raft of Bank of Ireland branches near the onset of the financial crash, is selling eight branch offices for a guide price of over ¤10 million. Two of the branches are in Dublin.

Laura Slattery has the story on the Central Bank's decision to leave its restrictions on mortgage borrowing unchanged after a review. Cantillon also considers the development, asking what a would-be housebuyer might be thinking now.

In her weekly column, Karlin Lillington takes on home DNA tests, advising consumers to absolutely avoid doing them or giving them as Christmas gifts to others because "you are the real product".

Tech the halls: it's officially that time of year again, where you scratch your head trying to work out what to get the tech-savvy people in your life for Christmas. Help is at hand, as Ciara O'Brien surveys the market in your behalf, identifying the best tech-friendly gifts available for budgets as small as €50, or as big as €500.

Ciara also reviews one of this year's most popular gifts: the Fujifilm Square SQ20.

In our weekly Innovation section, Fiona Alston takes a look at the latest inventions aimed at putting personal safety first for walkers, runners, cyclists and riders. These include reflection sleeves worn on the lower arm, and a wearable safety device that emits a piercing noise when activated and sends a message to a pre-selected network of people.

In his Innovation Talks column, John Holden considers the implications of news that Chinese scientist He Jiankui has created genetically modified human embryos that are immune to the HIV virus.

We also take a look at Sweden's move towards become an almost cash-free society – now that the country is so far down the road, is the shift all good?

And in this week's Inside Business podcast in association with Irish Life, Ciarán Hancock and Michael O'Keeffe explore the world of Irish sports agents.

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