INTERNATIONAL investors will be keeping a close eye on Ireland this week as plans to salvage the country’s banking system are revealed.

THE European banking sector could face a major levy from the ECB to pay for its massive bailout following the banking crisis.

SPECULATION that French insurance giant AXA was preparing to mount a bid for Irish Life & Permanent was dismissed as premature last night.

THE move by the European Commission to block AIB paying interest of €280 million to the state for its €3.5 billion capital injection could have serious implications for the banking sector and the Irish economy.

OF the € 24 billion of bad, property and other related loans being transferred by AIB Group to NAMA, nearly half will be in the bad debt category by the end of 2009.

AIB plans to sell off its €1.13 billion 22.64% holding in M&T Bank in the US to raise capital, it emerged yesterday.

THE STATE’S rescue of Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks has resulted in an €825 million win for the taxpayer as a result of the state holding options on a 25% stake in each of the banks.

THOSE who fear the Government will sell the taxpayer short in the case of NAMA might take some comfort from the rumour that the banks hate the National Treasury Management Agency.

ANGLO Irish Bank’s decision to advance €68 million to Liam Carroll’s struggling Zoe Group to finish the bank’s new headquarters in Dublin was made before the bank was nationalised, according to Finance Minister Brian Lenihan.

THE purchase of a minority stake in AIB by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) would ease the threat of nationalisation hanging over the Irish bank.

ALLIED Irish Banks confirmed yesterday that it has been approached about the possible sale of a minority stake to an overseas bank, understood to be the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).

TIPPERARY GAA chiefs have opted not to appeal the four-week suspension handed down to midfielder Shane McGrath as his ban expires on the night before the NHL final showdown with Kilkenny on May 3.

THERE were calls yesterday for Anglo Irish Bank’s disgraced former chairman to face the full force of the law after secretly borrowing up to €129 million from the bank.

THE financial regulator Patrick Neary denied last night that the Government was forced to give unprecedented guarantees to the Irish banks to protect one of them from going under.

SHARES in CRH surged as much as 5% yesterday as speculation mounted that the building materials giant could be a takeover target.

BANK shares traded higher in Dublin yesterday after speculation in the Financial Times that AIB could be in the sights of Spain’s largest bank, Santander.

THE Irish Stock Exchange entered record-breaking territory yesterday as the benchmark ISEQ index set a new all-time high and added over €1 billion to its value.

IRISH drinks and snacks company C&C Group is to invest a total of €25 million at its Clonmel base to boost cider production.

IRISH drugs group Elan and its partner Biogen have withdrawn sales of its multiple sclerosis drugs after a patient died from the rare and often fatal central nervous system disease, sending shares of both drug makers tumbling.

INVESTORS in AIB and Bank of Ireland should give consideration to taking some profits following the recent price surge in stocks, some analysts believe.

AIB was hit by further bad news yesterday as its was removed from the FTSE Eurotop 100 index.

EIRCOM'S share price fell as low as €1.48 in Dublin yesterday, down seven cent form its official launch price.

SHARES in Vodafone Group Plc, the world’s largest cellular operator, fell to an 11-week low on Friday last.

THE future of cheap flights and regional airports was cast into doubt last night after low-fares airlines braced themselves for a forthcoming EU ruling.

THE value of the ISEQ index of shares on the Irish Stock Exchange fell by €1.9 billion yesterday as shares in all sectors, bar technology stocks, fell.

MOVES to make companies more accountable in the post Enron and WorldCom environment are “quite vicious” in their implications, a leading business analyst said yesterday.

INVESTORS taking profits on the €10 billion plus increase in the value of Irish stock over the last four weeks knocked almost €1bn of the value of the ISEQ yesterday.

BANK OF IRELAND’S spurned takeover of Britain’s second-biggest mortgage lender has left the bank vulnerable to being taken over itself.