Results 2,681-2,700 of 26,398 for speaker:John McGuinness

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: I call on Senator Higgins.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Yes, go ahead..

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: I thank Dr. Stewart for his attendance. During the course of his opening statement I was looking at his comments on the treatment of the section 110 firms. Can he add a comment to that section where capital could be raised at relatively low interest rates given the risks of providing finance to Russian firms where there was little regulation? What does Professor Stewart mean by saying that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Is there any evidence out there of the amount of capital that is raised by these firms or has any research been carried out into that whole area?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Dr. Stewart then goes on to mention the general features of these firms and that they vary considerably in size. I can understand that but on one of the tables he has provided here, in the area of employees, for example, Table 2 which refers to assets of Russian firms in Ireland, there was a significant number of these section 110 firms in Ireland in 2020 which had zero employees. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Dr. Stewart has aircraft leasing firms’ employees numbered there at 32. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Is it that you have not been able to identify them?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Is the Limerick firm just a regular firm?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Dr. Stewart is not raising any questions about that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: The corporate service provider looks after the administrative functions of the various companies. Is that sector subject to regulation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Are the corporate service providers in breach of the regulations because they cannot name the company that is responsible or they do not know where the make-up of that company or trust ends? In terms of the information collected by the Central Bank, is that a standard form that is completed? Is it extensive? Although the Central Bank does not publish the form, because the form is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: The question for the Central Bank is on what it is doing with the data that it collects. Does it store them? Does it read them? Does it have a picture of what is going on? It may be a matter between the Central Bank and the Minister for Finance or, generally speaking, this committee could ask the Central Bank. In terms of the negative equity and large losses which Dr. Stewart spoke about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Some 3,125 section 110 firms have assets of €1.3 trillion in 2021. Any layperson reading that would certainly wonder why these firms are not regulated extensively by the Central Bank. Am I wrong?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: The total figure for assets is €1,031 billion. What sorts of assets are held by these companies?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: That is fascinating. The first table refers to funds raised on Dublin Euronext between 2018 and 2021 in the billions of euro. Will Dr. Stewart talk us through that table and comment on the fact Russian Railways, RZD, raised a total of €10.1 billion in the years 2010 to 2021, inclusive? He stated that in addition, banks availing of section 110 raised finance for the Russian military....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Dr. Stewart gave a specific figure in respect of Russian Railways, of €10.1 billion, but he stated a number of banks raised money that went to the Russian military. Can he quantify that? Where did the money come from for that specific purpose? Was that from Russian investors as well?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: These firms, based in Ireland with zero employees and paying little or no tax, are providing funds for the Russian military and Russian Railways. It is difficult to believe all this has gone on. Would any of that information have shown up in the information being collected by the Central Bank, or is it so general that it does not get down to the granular nature of the answer to that query?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: In light of the current sanctions against Russia, should the Government step in and do something about companies that can clearly be identified as raising funds for either Russian Railways or the Russian military? Surely we have an obligation to stop this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Moving on to the use of holding companies, which Dr. Stewart discussed in his opening statement, a former US expert on organised crime in the former Soviet Union, who was also CIA chief of base in that country, gave evidence to the US House Committee on Financial Services that identified Ireland as a major location for wealth leaving Russia in the post-Soviet period. I presume the wealth...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Use of Section 110 by Russian Firms: Dr. Jim Stewart (1 Jun 2022)

John McGuinness: Will Dr. Stewart elaborate on the use of more recent forms of corporate entity, for example, limited liability company, LLC, and their likely use by the criminal groups he refers to as second order actors?