Q&A

Are Irish stock prices on the Net?

I would like to know if there is an Internet source for prices on the Irish Stock Exchange. I can get 20-minute delayed prices for the London Stock Exchange for free but have no such luck with the Irish market. I have no experience in buying and selling shares but would like as much information as possible. It appears we are not as well served here with free stock prices as investors in the UK. Is dealing in stocks and shares still the preserve of those with access to closely-guarded information? Does the Irish Stock Exchange plan a website with this information? Or is there another source on the Internet? Alternatively, what pricing information - and not just closing prices - is available for Irish equities to someone outside the capital. Prices at 15-20-minute delay would be ideal.

Mr B.S., Limerick

There are a range of options for people seeking straightforward price information on shares during trading hours. The most traditional is through a stockbroker who can give you up-to-date information on what is happening on the floor during any trading session. The downside of this is that stockbrokers tend to provide this service only for paying clients.

Moving up the technological ladder slightly, you can access basic information through RTE's Aertel text service on television. This updates prices three times a day as well as giving some details of London, New York and Tokyo trade. BBC and ITV provide a similar service for British stocks.

Turning to the Internet, consumers are still awaiting the advent of a real-time share information or dealing service in Ireland. The best of those currently available from stockbrokers is undoubtedly that of BCP Stockbrokers (www.bcp.ie) which offers prices for Dublin, London and New York. The Dublin quotes are updated four times a day with a minimum delay of 20 minutes. NCB offers roughly the same service although, like yourself, I had trouble in accessing it.

The other stockbrokers have yet to get their acts together fully on the Internet as has the Irish Stock Exchange itself. It is developing a site although it claims it faces greater regulatory constraints than some of its members in doing so which has led to delays. Maybe 1999 will herald a great leap forward in this field.

Another website that might be of interest is www.auric.demon.co.uk/member- list.htm, which provides a full list of the member firms of the London Stock Exchange - a group that includes the leading Irish players - together with information on such things as email addresses, websites, if any, and other items.

I gather, though I have yet to come across them, that there is a range of paid-for information and share-dealing software available now. The costs involved range from the nominal to thousands of pounds. Many appear to be available on a trial and money-back offer basis.

How do new B of I charges compare?

Bank of Ireland has recently written to advise me of a choice of future bank charges - either 22p per transaction or £9 per quarter for up to 90 transactions. How does this compare with the present charges per transaction and the charges of other high street banks? With banking becoming ever more competitive and greater reliance being placed on customer service, should the banks be promoting cheaper, if not free banking?

Mr N.W., email

I noticed the recent announcement of a new charging structure from Bank of Ireland as part of its much-vaunted initiative to improve services in the run-up to 2000. The first thing to note is that the new charges apply only to current accounts. At £9 a quarter, the charges amount to 10p per transaction if you use the maximum number of transactions in that time - 90. Thereafter, of course, you revert to paying 22p each time. Transactions include processing a cheque, using your Laser card or Pass ATM card, the carrying out of a standing order or a direct debit. It would also include cash transactions in a bank branch.

For a busy family account, it would not be long before you would run up 90 transactions. However, if you were a younger or older customer, who carries out only a little business with the bank, you might be better off opting for the per-item charge of 22p. In either case, you can change your mind on a quarterly basis.

How do these charges compare with the bank's main rivals? Well, Irish Permanent operates a similar system and has done so on its current account since it was launched in 1993. In its case, customers pay a £10 quarterly "management fee". However, this entitles them only to 30 free transactions. Thereafter, cheque processing is charged at 25p a time, while ATM/Laser/external standing orders and direct debits cost 15p a time. Internal standing orders and direct debits - from a current to a mortgage account for instance - are free.

AIB charges an account maintenance fee of only £3.75 a quarter. For this, you get 30 free transactions a quarter. In addition, if you maintain a minimum cleared balance of £100 throughout the quarter, you pay no charges. Assuming you do not fall into this bracket, you will face charges on all transactions after the first 30 in every quarterly period. These amount to 24p a time on paper (cheque) or staff assisted-transactions, such as those in bank branches, and 17p a time on automated transactions such as ATM, Laser, standing orders or direct debits. In addition, on standing orders you may face a 12p payment charge each time.

As with all consumer products, it is essentially up to you to decide which charge set-up suits your needs. Bank of Ireland may be relatively economic for the first 90 transactions but it is not the most competitive thereafter. As for free banking in a competitive market, it does occur at times - such as with AIB on balances in excess of £100 for the quarter and at National Irish Bank on current accounts in credit for the whole quarter. But with margins in the sector falling - albeit from a relatively high level compared to industry rivals abroad - banks are having to secure profits for shareholders from somewhere. In such an environment, free banking is less rather than more likely to become pervasive. I would hazard a guess that Bank of Ireland's new charge structure, while simpler than those of some of its rivals, might well yield the group more in charges over a year than the previous system.

Costs of moving a mortgage

The reply you gave recently to a query regarding the legal costs involved in remortgaging a property was inaccurate and will undoubtedly have confused Mr J.M. from Dublin 9. Perhaps you could take the opportunity to further outline the costs involved.

Mr G.M., Bray

I am grateful to solicitors Mr Gene Murphy of Neville Murphy & Co and Ms Anne Kelly for filling in the gaps in my knowledge on the costs involved in a homeowner transferring a mortgage from one lender to another.

In the first place, the existing lender will charge £35 for taking up the title deeds of the house from its security. In addition, it will charge about £30 for "sealing the vacate". The Government then joins the list of creditors, seeking £12 to register that "vacate" in the Land Registry to remove it from the folio. The Government will also charge stamp duty at the rate of £1 per £1,000 on the new mortgage plus £10.

The State is not finished yet. It then charges for the re-registering of the new mortgage and the issue of a land certificate. This comes to about £265 for mortgages over £30,000. Valuers in or around the city will charge anywhere up to £100 to which you will have to add the cost of searches by the solicitor, which will come to about £45. Fresh family home declarations will have to be furnished and these will involve fees of about £15 or £20 to a Commissioner of Oath's.

The solicitor's own fees in a straightforward situation would be upwards of £450 plus VAT at 21 per cent.

Totting all that up, you can see how easily the costs involved can come in at more than £1,000 on a standard mortgage these days. I must say I was surprised Mr J.M. seemed to pay so little in purchasing the house originally four years ago. I seem to recall the costs involved in house purchase at that time being pretty substantial.

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