Results 27,061-27,080 of 35,959 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I welcome the inclusion of the true and fair test. It is an issue I have raised. Because we are giving legislative approval for the first time to these types of fund I am not convinced that we should allow flexibility to present the annual accounts for Irish domiciled funds in five ways, at a minimum; there may be others listed in secondary legislation. It is an issue in financial...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: That is fine. I am not sure if I will table amendments. Accounting standards are like a different language.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: We are allowing people in the State to present their accounts in a different language.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I agree with the Minister of State and welcome the amendment to the legislation. However, when we are looking at our regulatory body to oversee this issue, we should make it as simple as possible. I am open to being convinced in asking to have these funds apply international standards. The debate globally is moving towards the use of international standards. There is resistance to this...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Because banks used different standards in the past they were able not to disclose all of their losses. Making it flexible for them, even with the amendment, will allow funds to pick and choose the standards that benefit them. We should not do this. There is a risk in that regard to investors. There may not be a risk to the State as such, but there is a risk to financial institutions...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Is section 101(1)(a), (b) and (c) being deleted and replaced by the amendment?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: May I raise an issue to do with amendment No. 26? I would like clarification on how the Bill will read. Will section 6 become section 7? Will section 5 remain the same? Are we taking sections 3 and 4 into one section?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Will section 5 become section 7?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: With regard to international reporting standards, which we deal with in amendment No. 28, how many such standards are out there? Are there only the international financial reporting standards, IFRS?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I am going back to amendment No. 26, but this is relevant to amendment No. 28. Am I correct in saying that section 4 refers to generally accepted accounting practice in the State plus international financial reporting standards - that between subsection (4)(a) and subsection (4)(b), the word "and" rather than "or" is implied? The requirement is to comply with paragraphs (a) and (b), or (a)...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I understand us. Let us forget about subsection (4)(c) to make it simpler. Are we saying there must be compliance with paragraph (a) or (b)? My reading is that the accounts should be required to be compliant with (a) and (b), so I am seeking clarification that it is (a) or (b), as the Minister of State is saying.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Yes, but why do we not have the word "or" between paragraphs (a) and (b)? There is a difference between accounting practices and financial standards, as dealt with in paragraph (a) versus paragraphs (b) and (c). My understanding is that we would be dealing with accountancy practices, as referred to in paragraph (a), plus one of the standards referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c).

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I suggest that we are not achieving the same thing. If companies are allowed to prepare their annual accounts in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices in the State, that does not require compliance with international financial reporting standards or an alternative body of accounting standards, as listed in the legislation. This allows companies to report accounts that are...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Subsection (4)(a) refers not to a standard but to a practice. A practice may change from time to time, whereas a standard is adopted by a governing body. International standards are governed by the IFRS, and there are the American standards, the UK standards and so on. A practice is very different from a standard. Practices evolve as time goes on.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I assumed it was intended to set out some accounting practices and the use of those practices to align with standards. The Minister of State referred earlier to the fact that the standards are talking to an international audience. The legislation allows companies to compile annual reports based on a number of standards. We have now suggested that they can do so according to accounting...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I will comment on amendment No. 21, relating to the liability of trustees for debenture holders. It exempts the trustee and indemnifies him or her against liability for breach of trust. I wish to tease out the second part of this, which states "where he or she fails to show the degree of care and diligence required of him or her as trustee". This goes to the core of what is white-collar...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I understand that, and the Bill to which the Minister of State refers has not yet been implemented. We will have to deal with the section on its own merit. This is about exempting and indemnifying a trustee against liability, which could be quite large. What benchmark would have to be reached under this section to show that the trustee has failed in the degree of care and diligence...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: We define terms in legislation all the time and we are doing so again in this Bill. There is reference to "degree of care" and "diligence required" but there is no definition for either of those terms, apart from the fact that there must be "regard". The word "regard" could be debated by barristers in the Four Courts for a couple of sessions with respect to "trust deed conferring on him or...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Yes, and I agree with the Minister of State's point on the beefing up of regulatory provisions, which has happened in the past number of years. That is welcome. However, with human nature being what it is, regulators will identify problem areas and try to prevent them but they cannot stop them. They can help to prevent them. We are exempting a trustee from liability in law but we are...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Irish Collective Asset-Management Vehicles Bill 2014: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2014)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister of State has indicated that the amendments in this group mirror the provisions of the Companies Bill 2012. I have not had time to go back to that legislation and these amendments were only made available a couple of days ago. Are these provisions simply lifted from the 2012 Bill or are we seeing a reduction in the requirements as set out in the Companies Bill?