The best of this week in business

THE NUMBERS

€1.87 million

- The record amount awarded to communications consultant Monica Leech in her libel trial against Independent News & Media

78,000

- The number of ultra high net worth individuals – defined as those with at least €22 million to invest – now left in the world. The global number of such people fell by nearly 25 per cent in 2008

€44 billion

- The amount of emergency finance pumped into the eurzo zone’s banking system on Wednesday by the European Central Bank in a bid to unlock credit markets

€35 billion

– The losses that Irish banks could be facing by the end of 2010, according to the IMF

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Ireland was perhaps the most overheated of all advanced economies”

- Global financial watchdog IMF didn’t pull any punches in its decidedly bleak assessment of Ireland’s economic situation

GOOD WEEK

Boston Scientific

The medical devices firm unveiled a €91 million investment plan for its Galway plant this week. The US group, already one of the largest employers in the State, will create 45 jobs as a result of this investment.

Fans of entertainment

– It appears that infamous TV star Simon Cowell has joined forces with Topshop billionaire Sir Philip Green to create an international entertainment empire. According to reports, their venture will create and own television content on both sides of the Atlantic, and may also be used to exploit merchandising opportunities. Expect Leona Lewis dolls and Susan Boyle T-shirts to start hitting the shelves soon . . .

BAD WEEK

Ben Bernanke

“Was Bank of America forced to go through with the deal, or was this just an old-fashioned shakedown?” So asked a member of the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee which is investigating Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s handling of Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Bernanke has come in for heavy criticism for his role in pushing through the transaction.

Biased Financial Advisers

– The days of biased brokers providing financial advice on the basis of maximising their own commission could be numbered, at least in the UK. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has announced radical new rules that will ban UK financial advisers from receiving commission for selling investment, pension and life assurance products from 2012.

Commission-based brokers in Ireland will no doubt be praying that our own Financial Regulator doesn’t start showing such initiative.